Gary Dourdan: My Bank Screwed Me Over

Gary Dourdan says the bank that holds his mortgage is flagrantly violating his legal rights and demonstrating heartless indifference to people caught up in the recession ... and he's ready to prove it to a judge.

Dourdan just filed a lawsuit -- obtained by TMZ -- in which Gary confesses he's one of the victims of the economic downturn that hammered the entertainment industry. Gary took out a $922,000 mortgage in 2004 which requires him to pay $5,000 a month.

All was going peachy until Gary was laid off from his acting gig in 2010. The actor couldn't meet his monthly nut so he contacted Union Bank and asked for mortgage assistance, which he claims it was required to give him under California law.

Gary says the bank told him to pound sand for an entire year, when they finally offered him help ... but Gary says the bank didn't honor the new terms and now foreclosure proceedings are underway.