The number of homes published this month for the foreclosure sale in February dropped in Metro Atlanta. The 8,181 notices are down 3 percent from notices published in January last year and 21 percent below the number of notices published in December.

The drop was the first in 14 months according to Alpharetta based Equity Depot, a company that tracks foreclosure notices published each month across the country.

Barry Bramlett, president of Equity Depot, told the Atlanta Journal Constitution that he was hesitant to say hat things were turning around until he saw better results from one quarter to the next, not month to month.

A record number of homes were threatened with foreclosure last year and economists expect the problems to get worse before they get better. According to a report published by RealtyTrac Inc, 2.8 million homes were threatened with foreclosure in 2009. The company projects that number could climb to between 3 million and 3.5 million homes this year.

Many homes that might have been pulled from foreclosure lists in efforts by the Federal government and states to help troubled homeowners. But banks have been slow to negotiate mortgage modifications, and have been even slower to make them permanent.

One way to stop foreclosure proceedings on your home is to file bankruptcy. Chapter 13 bankruptcy can give you time to make up arrears and delinquent payments on your mortgage.