I'm trying to do a bit of planning for my upcoming tax filings and I'm wondering whether I'll be eligible for the exemption of debt forgiveness under the Mortgage Relief Act. I sold my home in a short sale in Sept 2012. The complicating aspect is that I hadn't been living in the home for awhile.

Here's a basic timeline:
May 2007: House bought (in IL). Moved in.
September 2008: I took a leave of absence from my job for 10 months to do volunteer work. Placed in WI for volunteering. WI was NOT considered my primary residence. I rented the house to some friends of friends during this time.
April 2009: Laid off from job (that I was on leave from)
July 2009: Moved back into house in IL (but unemployed)
December 2009: Find a job...in WI. Rent place to live in WI.
Jan 2010: Attempt to rent to friends again while figure out what to do with IL house.
July 2010: House listed for sale
Sept 2011: Last renters move out and I give up on the hassle of renting and leave house empty.
Sept 2012: House sold.

So I'm not even sure how this house is classified to me. It's probably borderline whether I can say I lived there 2 of 5 years. I did complete schedule E for rental income for the end of 2008 and the 2009-2011 tax years. I did not plan on doing this for 2012 as I made no attempt to rent the house.

Tax-wise, I know it really hasn't been my principal residence for the past few years as I've been filing WI taxes and claiming rental income on it. I just don't know if I lived there long enough as a primary residence to qualify for the exclusion. It was my legal address (and I was on the utility bills) from May 2007 - December 2009, but I also had rental income during that time as well.

If I need to claim the forgiven debt as income, I'm ok with that, but obviously my preference is not to if that is a possibility. Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks!
-Lauren