Oh, but you certainly were connected to those foreclosures. You OWNED the LLC that OWNED the properties. If that's not a "connection" I don't know what is.
Anyway, I'm looking at an FHA sample loan application and the question is:
"Have you had property foreclosed upon or given title or deed in lieu thereof in the last 7 years?"
http://fha-home-loans.com/forms/Loan%20Application.pdf
Looks to me that your answer to that question should be yes.
When you say lenders don't seem to be able to give you a straight answers are you talking to loan officers who make the decision or to mortgage brokers who have no clue as to what any given lender will do about the information?