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Stockholders' Equity (Details) $ / shares in Units, $ in Thousands																										1 Months Ended	12 Months Ended			172 Months Ended
		Nov. 15, 2019 $ / shares	Sep. 12, 2019 $ / shares	Aug. 09, 2019 $ / shares	Jun. 12, 2019 $ / shares	May 20, 2019 $ / shares	Mar. 06, 2019 $ / shares	Feb. 15, 2019 $ / shares	Dec. 12, 2018 $ / shares	Nov. 26, 2018 $ / shares	Sep. 13, 2018 $ / shares	Aug. 20, 2018 $ / shares	Jun. 07, 2018 $ / shares	May 17, 2018 $ / shares	Mar. 07, 2018 $ / shares	Feb. 20, 2018 $ / shares	Dec. 13, 2017 $ / shares	Nov. 17, 2017 $ / shares	Sep. 14, 2017 $ / shares	Aug. 10, 2017 $ / shares	Jun. 12, 2017 $ / shares	May 16, 2017 $ / shares	Mar. 08, 2017 $ / shares	Feb. 17, 2017 $ / shares	Apr. 15, 2013 $ / shares shares	Dec. 31, 2019 USD ($) $ / shares shares	Dec. 31, 2019 USD ($) quarter director $ / shares shares	Dec. 31, 2018 USD ($) $ / shares shares	Dec. 31, 2017 USD ($) $ / shares shares	Dec. 31, 2017 USD ($) $ / shares shares	Aug. 16, 2019 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2013 shares	Aug. 08, 2013 shares	Aug. 31, 2005 shares
Dividends on Preferred Stock
Preferred stock, shares issued (in shares)																										8,000,000	8,000,000	8,000,000
Preferred stock, dividend rate																									7.50%		7.50%	7.50%
Preferred stock, par value (in dollars per share) | $ / shares																										$ 0.01	$ 0.01	$ 0.01
Maximum quarters without dividends to get voting rights, in quarters | quarter																											6
Minimum percentage of preferred shareholders required for approval																											66.67%
Dividends on Common Stock
Common stock, cash dividends declared (in dollars per share) | $ / shares			$ 0.20		$ 0.20		$ 0.20		$ 0.20		$ 0.20		$ 0.20		$ 0.20		$ 0.20		$ 0.20		$ 0.20		$ 0.20			$ 0.20
Dividends payable | $																										$ 90,749	$ 90,749	$ 90,198	$ 79,771	$ 79,771
Residential whole loans, at fair value | $	[1]																									$ 1,381,583	$ 1,381,583	$ 1,665,978
Common stock dividends, capital gains (in dollars per share) | $ / shares																										$ 0.1672	$ 0.1672	$ 0.1290	$ 0.0831	$ 0.0831
Common stock, shares authorized (in shares)																										886,950,000	886,950,000	886,950,000
Issuance costs | $																											$ 0	$ 329	$ 415
Number of shares authorized to be repurchased under the Repurchase Program (in shares)																																10,000,000.0		4,000,000.0
Number of shares repurchased through the Company's publicly announced stock repurchase program (in shares)																											0
Number of remaining shares authorized to be repurchased under the Repurchase Program (in shares)																										6,616,355	6,616,355
DRSPP
Dividends on Common Stock
Common stock, shares authorized (in shares)																																	9,000,000.0
Shares of common stock authorized and available for issuance																										8,900,000	8,900,000
Shares issued (in shares)																											322,888	379,903	2,293,192	34,378,768
Net proceeds | $																											$ 2,400	$ 2,800	$ 18,500	$ 286,600
Series B Preferred Stock
Dividends on Preferred Stock
Preferred stock, cash dividends declared (in dollars per share) | $ / shares		$ 0.46875		$ 0.46875		$ 0.46875		$ 0.46875		$ 0.46875		$ 0.46875		$ 0.46875		$ 0.46875		$ 0.46875		$ 0.46875		$ 0.46875		$ 0.46875
Preferred Stock | Series B Preferred Stock
Dividends on Preferred Stock
Preferred stock, shares issued (in shares)																									8,000,000.0
Preferred stock, dividend rate																									7.50%		7.50%	7.50%	7.50%
Preferred stock, par value (in dollars per share) | $ / shares																									$ 0.01
Preferred stock, liquidation preference (in dollars per share) | $ / shares																									25.00	$ 25.00	$ 25.00	$ 25	$ 25	$ 25
Preferred stock, redemption price (in dollars per share) | $ / shares																									$ 25.00
Number of additional directors that can be elected by preferred stock holders | director																											2
At The Market
Dividends on Common Stock
At-the-market, maximum potential proceeds | $																															$ 400,000
Number of shares issued (in shares)																											1,357,526
Proceeds from sale of stock | $																											$ 9,900
Issuance costs | $																											100
Value remaining outstanding for future offerings | $																										$ 390,000	$ 390,000
Weighted Average
Dividends on Common Stock
Gross Proceeds Per Share (in dollars per share) | $ / shares																										$ 7.40	$ 7.40
[1] Includes approximately $186.4 million and $209.4 million of Residential whole loans, at carrying value and $567.4 million and $694.7 million of Residential whole loans, at fair value transferred to consolidated variable interest entities (“VIEs”) at December 31, 2019 and 2018, respectively. Such assets can be used only to settle the obligations of each respective VIE.

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