Organization and Significant Accounting Policies | NOTE 1. ORGANIZATION AND SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES Organization and Business Description Orchid Island Capital, Inc., (“Orchid” or the “Company”), was incorporated in Maryland on August 17, 2010 for the purpose of creating and managing a leveraged investment portfolio consisting of residentia l mortgage-backed securities (“RMBS ”). From incorporation t o February 20, 2013 Orchid was a wholly owned subsidiary of Bimini Cap ital Management, Inc. (“Bimini”). Orchid began operations on November 24, 2010 (the date of commencement of operations). From incorporation through November 24, 2010, Orchid’s only activity was the issuance of common stock to Bimini. On February 20, 201 3, Orchid completed the initial public offering (“IPO”) of its common stock in which it sold approximately 2.4 million shares of its common stock and raised gross proceeds of $35.4 million, which were invested in RMBS that were issued and the principal and interest of which are guaranteed by a federally chartered corporation or agency (“Agency RMBS”) on a leveraged basis. Orchid is an “emerging growth company” as defined in the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act of 2012 (the “JOBS Act”). Orchid completed a secondary offering of 1,800,000 shares of common s tock on January 23, 2014. The underwriters exercised their overallotment option in full for an additional 270,000 shares on January 29, 2014. The aggregate net proceeds to Orchid were approximately $24. 2 million which were invested in Agency RMBS on a leveraged basis. Orchid completed a secondary offering of 3,200,000 shares of common stock on March 24, 2014. The underwriters exercised their overallotment option in full for an additional 480,000 shares on April 11, 2014. The aggregate net proceeds to Orchid were approximately $44.0 million which were invested in Agency RMBS on a leveraged basis. On June 17, 2014, Orchid entered into an equity distribution agreement (the “June 2014 Equity Distribution Agreement”) with two sales agents pursuant to which the Company could offer and sell, from time to time, up to an aggregate amount of $35,000,000 of shares of the Company’s common stock in transactions that were deemed to be “at the market” offerings and p rivately negotiated transactions. The Company issued a total of 2,528,416 shares under the June 2014 Equity Distribution Agreement for aggregate proceeds of approximately $34.2 million, net of commissions and fees, prior to its termination in September 20 14. On September 3, 2014, Orchid entered into a second equity distribution agreement (the “September 2014 Equity Distribution Agreement”) with two sales agents pursuant to which the Company could offer and sell, from time to time, up to an aggregate amoun t of $75,000,000 of shares of the Company’s common stock in transactions that were deemed to be “at the market” offerings and privately negotiated transactions. The September 2014 Equity Distribution Agreement replaced the June 2014 Equity Distribution Ag reement. The Company issued a total of 5,087,646 shares under the September 2014 Equity Distribution Agreement for aggregate proceeds of approximately $69.1 million, net of commissions and fees, prior to its termination in March 2015. On March 2, 2015, Orchid entered into a third equity distribution agreement (the “March 2015 Equity Distribution Agreement”) with two sales agents pursuant to which the Company could offer and sell, from time to time, up to an aggregate amount of $100,000,000 of shares of t he Company’s common stock in transactions that were deemed to be “at the market” offerings and privately negotiated transactions. The March 2015 Equity Distribution Agreement replaced the September 2014 Equity Distribution Agreement. The Company issued a total of 7,218,766 shares under the March 2015 Equity Distribution Agreement for aggregate proceeds of approximately $93.2 million, net of commissions and fees, prior to its termination in July 2016. On July 29, 2015 the Company’s Board of Directors aut horized the repurchase of up to 2,000,000 shares of the Company’s common stock. The timing, manner, price and amount of any repurchases will be determined by the Company in its discretion and will be subject to economic and market conditions, stock price, applicable legal requirements and other factors. The authorization does not obligate the Company to acquire any particular amount of common stock and the program may be suspended or discontinued at the Company’s discretion without prior notice. From the i nception of the share repurchase program through December 31, 2015, the Company repurchased a total of 1,216,243 shares at an aggregate cost of approximately $10.8 million, including commissions and fees. The Company did not repurchase any shares of its co mmon stock during the year ended December 31, 2016. On July 29, 2016, Orchid entered into a fourth equity distribution agreement (the “July 2016 Equity Distribution Agreement”) with two sales agents pursuant to which the Company may offer and sell, from time to time, up to an aggregate amount of $125,000,000 of shares of the Company’s common stock in transact ions that are deemed to be “at the market” offerings and privately negotiated transactions. The July 2016 Equity Distribution Agreement replaced the March 2015 Equity Distribution Agreement. Through December 31, 2016 , the Company issued a total of 10,174,992 s hares under the July 2016 Equity Distribution Agreement for aggregate proceeds of approximately $108.2 million, net of commissions and fees. Basis of Presentation , Consolidation and Use of Estimates The accompanying consolidated financial statements have been prepared on the accrual basis of accounting in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States (“GAAP”). The consolidated financial statements include the accounts of our wholly-owned subsidiary, Orchid Island Casualty, LLC. Significant intercompany accounts and transactions have been eliminated. The preparation of financial statements in conformity with GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting period. Actual results could differ from those estimates. The sign ificant estimates affecting the accompanying financial statements are the fair values of RMBS and derivatives . Statement of Comprehensive Income (Loss) In accordance with the Financial Accounting Standards Board (the “FASB”) Accounting Standards Codifica tion (“ASC”) Topic 220, Comprehensive Income , a statement of comprehensive income (loss) has not been included as the Company has no items of other comprehensive income (loss) . Comprehensive income (loss) is the same as net income (loss) for the periods p resented. Cash and Cash Equivalents and Restricted Cash Cash and cash equivalents include cash on deposit with financial institutions and highly liquid investments with original maturities of three months or less at the time of purchase. Restricted cash includes cash pledged as collateral for repurchase agreements and other borrowings, and interest rate swaps and other derivative instruments. The Company maintains cash balances at four banks, and, at times, balances may exceed federally insured limits. T he Company has not experienced any losses related to these balances. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation insures eligible accounts up to $250,000 per depositor at each financial institution. At December 31, 2016 , the Company’s cash deposits exceeded federa lly insured limits by approximately $72.7 million. Restricted cash balances are uninsured, but are held in separate customer accounts that are segregated from the general funds of the counterparty. The Company limits uninsured balances to only large, well-known bank and derivative counterparties and believes that it is not exposed to any significant credit risk on cash and cash equivalents or restricted cash balances. Mortgage-Backed Securities The Company in vests primarily in mortgage pass-through (“PT”) certificates, collateralized mortgage obligations, and interest only (“IO”) securities and inverse interest only (“IIO”) securities representing interest in or obligations backed by pools of RMBS . T he Company has elected to account for its investment in RMBS under the fair value option. Electing the fair value option requires the Company to record changes in fair value in the consolidated statement of operations, which, in management’s view, more appropriatel y reflects the results of our operations for a particular reporting period and is consistent with the underlying economics and how the portfolio is managed. The Company records RMBS transactions on the trade date. Security purchases that have not settled as of the balance sheet date are included in the RMBS balance with an offsetting liability recorded, whereas securities sold that have not settled as of the balance sheet date are removed from the RMBS balance with an offsetting receivable rec orded. The fair value of the Company’s investments in RMBS is governed by FASB ASC 820, Fair Value Measurement . The definition of fair value in FASB ASC 820 focuses on the price that would be received to sell the asset or paid to transfer the liability i n an orderly transaction between market participants at the measurement date. The fair value measurement assumes that the transaction to sell the asset or transfer the liability either occurs in the principal market for the asset or liability, or in the a bsence of a principal market, occurs in the most advantageous market for the asset or liability. Estimated fair values for RMBS are based on independent pricing sources and/or third-party broker quotes , when available. Income on PT RMBS securities is bas ed on the stated interest rate of the security. Premiums or discounts present at the date of purchase are not amortized. Premium lost and discount accretion resulting from monthly principal repayments are reflected in unrealized gains (losses) on MBS in th e consolidated statements of operations. For IO securities, the income is accrued based on the carrying value and the effective yield. The difference between income accrued and the interest received on the security is characterized as a return of investmen t and serves to reduce the asset’s carrying value. At each reporting date, the effective yield is adjusted prospectively from the reporting period based on the new estimate of prepayments and the contractual terms of the security. For IIO securities, effec tive yield and income recognition calculations also take into account the index value applicable to the security. Changes in fair value of RMBS during each reporting period are recorded in earnings and reported as unrealized gains or losses on mortgage-bac ked securities in the accompanying consolidated statements of operations. FHLB Stock The Company's wholly-owned subsidiary, Orchid Island Casualty, LLC, has been a member of , and owns capital stock in, the Federal Home Loan Bank of Cincinnati (“FHLBC”). As a condition of its membership in the FHLBC, the subsidiary was required to maintain a FHLBC stock investment, both for membership and for the level of advances from the FHLBC to the subsidiary. Per a ruling issued by the Federal Home Finance Agency (the “FHFA”) on January 12, 2016, the Company’s wholly-owned subsidiary will no longer be eligible for membership in the FHLBC effective February 19, 2017. The Company dissolved the subsidiary after its application to do so was approved by the Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance. The Company has also notified the FHLBC of its desire to withdraw from the FHLBC is awaiting the liquidation of its membership stock investment. The Company accounts for its investment in FHLBC stock as a cost method investment in "Other assets". The Company periodically evaluated FHLBC stock for impairment in accordance with ASC 320. See Note 3 for more information about the subsidiary’s membership in the FHLBC. Derivative Financial Instruments The Company uses derivative instruments to manage interest rate risk, facilitate asset/liability strategies and manage other exposures, and it may continue to do so in the future. The principal instruments that the Company has used to date are T-Note and Eurodollar futures contracts, interest rate swaps, and options to enter in interest rate swaps (“interest rate swaptions”), but may enter into other derivatives in the future. The Company purchases a portion of its Agency RMBS through forward settling transactions, including “to-be-a nnounced” (“TBA”) securities transactions. At times when market conditions are conducive, the Company may choose to move the settlement of these TBA securities transactions out to a later date by entering into an offsetting short position, which is then n et settled for cash, and simultaneously entering into a substantially similar TBA securities trade for a later settlement date. Such a set of transactions is referred to as a TBA “dollar roll” transaction. The TBA securities purchased at the later settle ment date are typically priced at a discount to securities for settlement in the current month. This difference is referred to as the “price drop.” The price drop represents compensation to the Company for foregoing net interest margin and is referred to as TBA “dollar roll income.” Specified pools of mortgage loans can also be the subject of a dollar roll transaction, when market conditions allow. The Company accounts for TBA securities as derivative instruments if either the TBA securities do not sett le in the shortest period of time possible or if the Company cannot assert that it is probable at inception of the TBA transaction, or throughout its term, that it will take physical delivery of the Agency RMBS for a long position, or make delivery of the Agency RMBS for a short position, upon settlement of the trade. The Company accounts for TBA dollar roll transactions as a series of derivative transactions. Gains, losses and dollar roll income associated with TBA securities transactions and dollar roll t ransactions are reported in gain (loss) on derivative instruments in the accompanying consolidated statements of operations. The fair value of TBA securities is estimated based on similar methods used to value RMBS securities. The Company has elected not to treat any of its derivative financial instruments as hedges in order to align the accounting treatment of its derivative instruments with the treatment of its portfolio assets under the fair value option election. FASB ASC Topic 815, Derivatives and He dging , requires that all derivative instruments be carried at fair value. Changes in fair value are recorded in earnings for each period. Holding derivatives creates exposure to credit risk related to the potential for failure on the part of counterparti es and exchanges to honor their commitments. In addition, the Company may be required to post collateral based on any declines in the market value of the derivatives. In the event of default by a counterparty, the Company may have difficulty recovering i ts collateral and may not receive payments provided for under the terms of the agreement. To mitigate this risk, the Company uses only well-established commercial banks as counterparties. Financial Instruments FASB ASC 825, Financial Instruments , requires disclosure of the fair value of financial instruments for which it is practicable to estimate that value, either in the body of the financial statements or in the accompanying notes. RMBS, Eurodollar and T-Note futures contracts, interest rate swa ps, interest rate swaptions and TBA securities are accounted for at fair value in the consolidated balance sheets. The methods and assumptions used to estimate fair value for these instruments are presented in Note 12 of the consolidated financial statem ents. The estimated fair value of cash and cash equivalents, restricted cash, accrued interest receivable, other assets, due to affiliates, repurchase agreements, accrued interest payable and other liabilities generally approximates their carrying values as of December 31, 2016 and December 31, 2015 due to the short-term nature of these financial instruments. Repurchase Agreements The Company finances the acquisition of the majority of its RMBS through the use of repurchase agreements under master repurchase agreements. Pursuant to ASC Topic 860, Transfers and Servicing , the Company accounts for repurchase transactions as collateralized financing transactions, which are carried at their contract ual amounts, including accrued interest, as specified in the respective agreements. Manager Compensation The Company is externally managed by Bimini Advisors, LLC ( the “Manager” or “Bimini Advisors”) , a Maryland limited liability company and wholly-owned subsidiary of Bimini. The Company’s management agreement with the Manager provides for payment to the Manager of a management fee and reimbursement of certain operating expenses, which are accrued and expensed during the period for which they are earned o r incurred. Refer to Note 13 for the terms of the management agreement. Earnings Per Share The Company follows the provisions of FASB ASC 260, Earnings Per Share . Basic earnings per share (“EPS”) is calculated as net income or loss attributable to common stockholders divided by the weighted average number of shares of common stock outstanding or subscribed during the period. Diluted EPS is calculated using the tre asury stock or two-class method, as applicable, for common stock equivalents, if any. However, the common stock equivalents are not included in computing diluted EPS if the result is anti-dilutive. Income Taxes Orchid has qualified and elected to be taxed as a real estate investment trust (“REIT”) under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”). REITs are generally not subject to federal income tax on their REIT taxable income provided that they distribute to their stockholders at le ast 90% of their REIT taxable income on an annual basis. In addition, a REIT must meet other provisions of the Code to retain its tax status. Orchid measures, recognizes and presents its uncertain tax positions in accordance with FASB ASC 740, Income Taxe s . Under that guidance, Orchid assesses the likelihood, based on their technical merit, that tax positions will be sustained upon examination based on the facts, circumstances and information available at the end of each period. All of Orchid’s tax posit ions are categorized as highly certain. There is no accrual for any tax, interest or penalties related to Orchid’s tax position assessment. The measurement of uncertain tax positions is adjusted when new information is available, or when an event occurs that requires a change. Recent Accounting Pronouncements In November 2016, the FASB issued Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) 2016-18, Statement of Cash Flows – (Topic 230): Restricted Cash. ASU 2016-18 requires that restricted cash and restricted cash equivalents be included as components of total cash and cash equivalents as presented on the statement of cash flows. ASU 2016-18 is effective for fiscal years, and for interim periods within those years, beginning after December 15, 2017. Early applicati on is permitted. The Company currently presents net changes in restricted cash as a component of investing activities; therefore, the application of this ASU will represent a change in the Company’s consolidated cash flow presentation. In August 2016, th e FASB issued ASU 2016-15, Statement of Cash Flows – (Topic 230): Classification of Certain Cash Receipts and Cash Payments. ASU 2016-15 addresses eight specific cash flow issues with the objective of reducing the existing diversity in practice. ASU 2016-1 5 is effective for fiscal years, and for interim periods within those years, beginning after December 15, 2017. Early application is permitted. The Company is currently evaluating the potential effect of this ASU on its consolidated financial statements. In June 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-13, Financial Instruments – Credit Losses (Topic 326): Measurement of Credit Losses on Financial Instruments. ASU 2016-13 requires credit losses on most financial assets measured at amortized cost and certain other instruments to be measured using an expected credit loss model (referred to as the current expected credit loss (“CECL”) model). ASU 2016-13 is effective for fiscal years, and for interim periods within those years, beginning after December 15, 2019. Earl y application is permitted for fiscal periods beginning after December 15, 2018. The Company is currently evaluating the potential effect of this ASU on its consolidated financial statements. In January 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-01, Financial Instru ments-Overall (Subtopic 825-10): Recognition and Measurement of Financial Assets and Financial Liabilities . ASU 2016-01 provides guidance for the recognition, measurement, presentation and disclosure of financial assets and financial liabilities. ASU 201 6-01 is effective for fiscal years, and for interim periods within those years, beginning after December 15, 2017 and, for most provisions, is effective using the cumulative-effect transition approach. Early application is permitted for certain provisions . The Company is currently evaluating the potential effect of this ASU on its consolidated financial statements. In June 2014, the FASB issued ASU 2014-12, Compensation-Stock Compensation: Accounting for Share-Based Payments When the Terms of an Award Pr ovide That a Performance Target Could Be Achieved after the Requisite Service Period . ASU 2014-12 requires that performance targets that affect vesting and that could be achieved after the requisite service period be treated as performance conditions. The effective date of ASU 2014-12 is for interim and annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2015. The adoption of this ASU did not have a material impact on the Company’s consolidated financial statements. |