According to U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, the Hope Now Alliance, a group responsible for stemming the tide of foreclosures gripping the country, is making "enormous progress." This is in direct contradiction to those lawmakers and industry experts that are demanding increased involvement from the government in addressing the housing crisis. According to Paulson, this group is wading through a large mess to undo the damage done by "lax underwriting practices" that have been a mortgage industry standard for the last several years.

Paulson has acknowledged that even with the efforts being made on the part of the U.S government, foreclosures will likely remain at an all time high. Even with that information, he had not consented to an increase in mortgage insurance for troubled homeowners, a move some say would provide additional mortgage help. Moreover, Paulson has looked to improving conditions in the housing market to point out how credit concerns would play a lesser role in dictating the current economic climate.

The Hope Now Alliance is a collective of mortgage lenders and providers as well as housing counselors that specialize in working with homeowners seeking home loan help. The collective has sought to improve conditions for homeowners behind on mortgage payments, leading to foreclosure. Paulson says the work of the group is not finished yet. They will continue to generate programs and initiatives geared towards seeing homeowners through the financial crisis.

Some government officials would like to see even more done to alleviate the pain homeowners are feeling at this time. Senator Christopher Dodd (D-CN) is the chairman of the Senate banking committee and would like to see a proposal to have Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac partially pay for a program to refinance mortgages. The program, also backed by Richard Shelby (R-AL) would be administered through the Federal Housing Administration.

Paulson has stated that this kind of bipartisan effort on the part of government officials will only help in shoring up the housing industry to prevent further decay.