Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan says her office has awarded a grant to help provide legal help to Chicago-area homeowners facing foreclosure.

Madigan's office says Chicago's Legal Aid Society of Metropolitan Family services will receive $650,000 over three years to provide legal and advocacy services to homeowners on Chicago's South Side and surrounding suburbs.

The money is part of a national settlement between state attorneys general and the nation's five largest bank mortgage servicers over allegations of "robo-signing" of foreclosure documents and other fraudulent practices.

The legal aid society will hire a full-time attorney to help communities in Chicago and its southern suburbs. It'll also hire a full-time paralegal to work from its Blue Island and Palos Hills offices and at the Cook County Court in Markham.