The time is ripe for such a venture, in the view of Daniel and the founders of KPO Ventures, two former partners at multi-billion-dollar hedge funds. "Obviously, the current environment is very conducive for private lending, due to the fact that there's no capital out there," says Daniel.

Concurrently, KPO's principals "believe very strongly in the opportunity for real estate lending--acquiring distressed notes, lending on distressed notes, etc.," he says. "They have put up a lot of their own capital and have another consortium of capital along with theirs to go out and do deals like this. So they've earmarked $100 million to get going and see what we can do."

For Silo and KPO, non-performing loans represent two opportunities. "One is that borrowers are afforded the opportunity to get a discount on their note," says Daniel. "Assuming there's value in the real estate, they need capital to take advantage of the opportunity. That's where we come in. We help them refinance it at a discount, buy it at a discount or whatever best fits the deal."