LA CROSSE, Wis. -- Millions of American families have lost their homes to foreclosure since the housing bubble burst four years ago.

Now, President Barack Obama has announced an unprecedented $25 billion deal for homeowners hit hard by the housing crisis. It's the largest joint federal-state settlement in the nation's history, meant to bring relief to some of the hardest-hit homeowners and end some of the most abusive practices of the mortgage industry.

"Banks and mortgage servicers expect that homeowners will meet their obligations under a mortgage. Homeowners should have the very same expectation of their financial institutions. And with this settlement, those institutions will be forced to live up to those expectations," said Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan.

The nation's five largest mortgage servicers, which were rescued by taxpayer money, will put billions of dollars toward relief for families hurt by the housing crisis. Those five mortgage servicers are Bank of America, J.P. Morgan Chase, Citigroup, Ally Financial and Wells Fargo.

They'll provide refinancing for borrowers stuck in high-interest rate mortgages, reduce loans for families who owe more than their home is worth, and provide relief to homeowners who have been hurt by abusive practices in the industry -- practices Attorney General Eric Holder said robbed many homeowners of the American dream.

"Our investigations revealed disturbing practices. For instance, we saw that far too often, servicers pushed borrowers into foreclosure, even though federal regulations require the servicers to try other alternatives first," said Holder.

Wisconsin homeowners are expected to receive $140 million in the settlement.

Minnesotans are expecting $280 million.

But some people are skeptical about the impact the settlement will actually have locally, because the relief is not available to homeowners whose mortgages have been sold to Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac, which Couleecap Community Development Director Todd Mandel said is not good news for western Wisconsin.

"The majority of the mortgages that are in trouble in our area are Fannie mortgages," said Mandel.

Plus, there's a chance the settlement could aggravate the mortgage issues it was meant to solve.

"At some point, the lenders are going to recover their losses. So it would not be unusual to see tighter lending practices, less access to capital, more difficulty qualifying to get a mortgage," said Mandel.

So if you ask Mandel, a healthy dose of cautiousness is the best policy.

"I don't want homeowners to read this and think, 'Yay, my ship has come in. My problems are solved.' It's unlikely that's the case. Maybe the ship's gotten a little easier to steer," said Mandel.

To find out whether you qualify for relief, you should contact your mortgage servicer or go to www.nationalmortgagesettlement.com.

You can contact the financial institutions involved in the settlement directly at the following numbers:
Bank of America 1-877-488-7814
J.P. Morgan Chase 1-866-372-6901
Citigroup 1-866-272-4749
Ally/GMAC 1-800-766-4622
Wells Fargo & Co. 1-800-288-3212