TALLAHASSEE -- A landmark mortgage settlement over the mishandling of millions of foreclosures nationwide could bring in billions of dollars in new housing aid for Florida homeowners, but critics of the long-awaited deal say the money isn’t nearly enough to help the millions of homeowners in hard-hit markets like South Florida.

“We’re looking at over 1 million [troubled] properties in Florida, and how many of them are going to be saved with these principal write-downs?” said Jack McCabe, CEO of McCabe Research and Consulting in Deerfield Beach, shortly after the national deal was announced Thursday. “I think that’s a precious few, maybe 20 percent.”

The $25 billion agreement was reached following 16 months of complex negotiations between 50 attorneys general and five major banks amid allegations of robo-signing and other abuses during the foreclosure crisis. Florida’s share: $8.4 billion, second only behind California.

Under terms of the settlement, Floridians who have lost their homes or have fallen underwater on their loans could receive a $2,000 check, a $20,000 mortgage reduction or a lower interest rate.

Attorney General Pam Bondi, who represented Florida at the negotiating table, said Florida’s share will go to three main groups of consumers, if their loans are serviced by Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, Ally Financial or Citigroup.

•  First, people who lost their home to foreclosure between 2008 and 2011 could receive up to $2,000 if their loan servicer cut corners in the process. This will affect about 85,000 Floridians.

•  Next, people who have already fallen behind on their mortgage could see the size of their debt shrink through a principal reduction or a loan modification. Florida has earmarked $7.6 billion for that effort.

•  Finally, people who are current on their mortgage but owe more than what the home is worth could refinance at a lower interest rate.

“This settlement will provide substantial relief to struggling Florida homeowners, and ensures that our state gets its fair share of the relief being provided nationally,” Bondi said in a statement.

Still, there are several hurdles homeowners have to clear before establishing eligibility. For example, loans owned by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are not included in the settlement. About half of the nation’s mortgages are backed by the two agencies.

For those who qualify, however, the money could be a lifeline.

Consider Ray Payano, of Cutler Bay, who has been locked in negotiations with CitiBank for months.

His family fell on hard times in 2010 when he and his wife were both laid off and struggled to keep up with their mortgage payments. Payano has since started an energy conservation firm and has seen his income increase, but he has struggled to work out a deal with his lender over past-due amounts. The national settlement, which the Obama administration touted Thursday as part of the president’s efforts to fix housing, could help Payano modify his loan and catch up on payments.

‘WORK WITH US’

“I’m not asking for a bailout. We went through a financial hardship and I’m just asking the bank to work with us,” he said, estimating that the house he bought for $160,000 three years ago is now worth less than $120,000.

Payano is one of hundreds of thousands of homeowners in South Florida with an underwater mortgage. While many have simply opted to stop paying and allow their homes to go into foreclosure, those who have remained current may get some help.

CONTACT LENDER

Homeowners wanting to take part in the settlement should contact their mortgage lenders.

There’s no doubt that the $8.4 billion settlement offers a much-needed jolt to Florida’s troubled housing market, yet the dollar amount is a fraction of the size of the state’s housing problem. With more than 1.9 million homes currently underwater, and the average homeowner under by $65,000, Florida’s negative equity total comes in at more than $123 billion.

The settlement includes $309 million for underwater homeowners to refinance their loans to a lower interest rate.

There are also more than 250,000 homes stuck in Florida’s lengthy foreclosure process, more than any other state in the country. The settlement may shorten the state’s foreclosure timeline — currently above two years — as banks will no longer be held up by charges of robo-signing. Still, several of the homes in foreclosure are so far behind on payments that even if banks reduce the amount owed, the homeowner will not be able to catch up.

Principal write-downs for delinquent homeowners are a major part of the settlement and were a major sticking point in the negotiations, as banks — and some attorneys general, including Bondi — argued against them because they thought that the practice would encourage more homeowners to default. According to national estimates, the average principal write-down handed out through the settlement will be about $20,000.

Supporters of the settlement believe it will prove to banks that their concerns were unfounded, and open the door to more voluntary principal reductions. In theory, it is less expensive for a lender to reduce a homeowner’s principal by $20,000 than to go through the costly foreclosure process and then sell the home at auction for much less than the outstanding mortgage.

“I’ve always said that mortgage reductions should’ve been what banks did first, but it would be the last thing they’d end up doing,” McCabe said.

The national deal could offer loan modifications to more than 1 million homeowners, with at least $17 billion earmarked for the effort. An additional $3.5 billion goes to state and federal governments for housing programs; Florida is due about $350 million.

Homeowners who lost their home to foreclosure in the last three years will receive up to $2,000 in compensation if they suffered “servicing abuse.” It’s not clear what will qualify as servicing abuse, though Florida was an epicenter for robo-signing practices. Several law firms based in Broward County were accused of rubberstamping foreclosure documents without verifying their information.

Since banks did not have to admit wrongdoing in the settlement, it is unclear how many people lost their homes in an improper foreclosure. Hundreds of thousands of Floridians have lost their homes to foreclosure since 2008, and about 85,000 of them will receive a payment.

WHO PAYS WHAT

Of the five major lenders, Bank of America will pay the most: $11.8 billion. Wells Fargo will pay about $5.3 billion; JPMorgan Chase roughly $5.3 billion; Citigroup about $2.2 billion; and Ally Financial about $310 million.

President Barack Obama praised the settlement, saying it will “speed relief to the hardest-hit homeowners, end some of the most abusive practices of the mortgage industry and begin to turn the page on an era of recklessness that has left so much damage in its wake.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.