The Mark Hotel With the delinquency rate on large commercial loans tied to real estate in the United States nearly doubling in just one month, big banks, which are among the largest real estate lenders, have been generally willing to give property owners time to work things out with tenants. A class of smaller lenders are showing their impatience. These lenders, which include hedge funds and private equity firms, have provided billions of dollars in so-called mezzanine financing to help...

Lone Star Funds, a big private equity firm that specializes in buying up distressed assets — soured mortgages in particular — is undergoing a shake-up in the management of its North American operations. Sam Loughlin, who had worked for the Dallas-based firm for nearly nine years, stepped down on Thursday as president of its North American division, the company said. He is being replaced by Nick Beevers, who had been a Lone Star executive vice president and came to the firm in 2011 to run its...