The number of foreclosures started by lenders in Massachusetts during the month of February increased 13.2 percent from the prior month but was down 7.5 percent from a year ago, according to The Warren Group, publisher of Banker & Tradesman.

Lenders filed 2,122 petitions to foreclose – which mark the first step in the foreclosure process in Massachusetts – in February, up from 1,874 in January but down from 2,295 in February 2009. A total of 3,996 petitions to foreclose have been filed in the first two months of 2010, a 6.1 percent drop from 4,255 a year earlier.

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