A look at stories across HousingWire’s weekend desk…with more coverage to come on bigger issues: With July home sales coming in at a level not seen since 1985, the Obama administration is rolling out two new tools to help homeowners pay their mortgages. Speaking to CNN Sunday morning, Department of Housing and Urban Development secretary Shaun Donavan said officials plan to launch over the next few weeks a refinancing effort through the Federal Housing Administration and an emergency loan program to help unemployed homeowners. Meanwhile, Wall Street’s political contributions have swung back to the right again, as Washington has started looking to increase financial regulation. And The New York Times reports hedge-fund manager Paul Singer is just one reason why the tide has shifted. About a quarter of all US homeowners who refinanced their mortgage during the first half of the year moved into 15-year fixed mortgages, The Wall Street Journal reported. For all of 2009, about 18.5% of refinacings became 15-year fixed and it may not behoove all homeowners to shorten a mortgage’s length to secure a lower interest rate, according to the WSJ. A former executive at Beazer Homes USA Inc. (BZH) has been indicted on federal charges of accounting fraud and conspiring to commit securities fraud, the Atlanta Business Chronicle reported. The Department of Justice claims Michael T. Rand cooked Beazer’s books for much of the past decade to meet earnings targets and mislead auditors. Also, Barron’s weighs in on the future of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, positing: “Why not shoot for the moon when managers knew that the taxpayer was on the hook for any losses?” And for only the third time this year, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. didn’t announce any bank closings on Friday. Through the first seven months of the year, 118 banks have failed, according to the FDIC. Write to Jason Philyaw.

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