Foreclosure taking over 8 years

So i went into foreclosure status sometime in 2009. Not really sure because i moved out of the house and state and never received any mail regarding the foreclosure. So i really don't know much about the foreclosure at all beside it foreclosed. So i am now in the process of buying a new home using my Va benefits. I am to the point where our loan is going to underwriting. But my lender called and told me he ran CAIVRS and my foreclosure for that home is on that list. So i went on to the Otero County website and pull up the history of the home and found out the foreclosure didn't happen til 8/10/15. That was 7 years after i moved. So my question is how long does a bank have to file for the foreclosure and how can they keep my home buying privileges at a halt. I have submitted a Caivrs suppression with the hud people and just waiting on a answer from them but i am just wanting to know if it was right that they took 7 years to do the foreclosure.

Thanks
Thomas