From the "Yikes!" Department ... check these out

COUPLE ACCUSED OF BANKRUPTCY FRAUD

By Elizabeth Hume -- Bee Staff Writer

A Sacramento, California couple was indicted on 9 counts of bankruptcy fraud. Martha Kathleen Montoya and Eladio Calvillo Montoya, 50, allegedly filed 13 bankruptcies between July 1999 and January 2006 to avoid eviction.

CREDIT CARD SHARKS

By Jim Sollisch

Credit card issuers are now required by law to increase the minimum monthly payments they deman, the goal being to prevent interest from overwhelming borrowers. This story lists 7 things that those credit card issuers are now doing that would make a loan shark blush (come back Jimmy Two-Thumbs, we miss you!).

MORTGAGE RATES SQUEEZING HOMEOWNERS

By James Haggerty, Wall Street Journal

Subprime lending originations went from $150 billion in 2000 to $650 billion in 2005 as households took advantage of "affordability" mortgage loans -- heavily promoted by lenders -- that held down payments for an initial period then self-adjusted to cause payments to escalate 10% and 50%.