Ray Lewis: Bank Screwed Over My Foundation ... Demands $20 Million

Ray Lewis claims his dream of giving 52 homes to 52 families in need was CRUSHED thanks to the bank that was funding the operation ... and now he's suing for MILLIONS to make things right.

Lewis -- along with several members of the L2 Family Foundation -- has filed a lawsuit against American Bank ... claiming AB had agreed to give L2 $5 million over 5 years to help fund Ray's program.

FYI -- the program was supposed to give 52 single moms the money they need toward the down payments of their new homes.

In exchange for the $5 mil, L2 says it agreed to give American Bank the right of first refusal on all of the mortgage loans that resulted from the program. Ray claims the bank got $4.5 mil in business from those deals.

Problem is ... Ray and L2 claim the bank "frantically" shut down the branch they were working with just 9 months into the program without explanation.

L2 says it never got the $5 million it was promised -- or any of the other benefits -- and says the closure "deprived the foundation of its ability to continue operations."

Now, Ray and L2 are suing for close to $20 MILLION -- claiming, in part, the bank has damaged Ray's stellar reputation.

We reached out to the bank for their side of the story -- but we haven't heard back.