Can I qualify for tax exemption if I lived in home 23 months in the last 5 years

[Jameson Hedin]

I have 2 questions that I would love if someone had insight into.  

1) as the title says, we don't quite reach 2 years for the tax exemption. We were one month short before renting it out.  We closed in May 2018 and the first lease started April 2020.  Is this a rigid boundary or a "spirit of the law" type situation

2) We sold a home under this exemption 3 years ago.  As far as I can tell you just cant have sold a home under the exemption in the past 2 years.  Is this accurate?

Thank you so much to any who can provide some answers.  

[Ashish Acharya]

There are exceptions for less than 23 months. 

A taxpayer who fails to meet the Section 121 ownership and use requirements or the one-sale-in-two-years requirement is eligible for a partial gain exclusion if the principal residence was sold or exchanged by reason of
(1) a change in place of employment;
(2) health; or
(3) unforeseen circumstances [IRC Sec. 121(c); Reg. 1.121-3(b)].
For each of the three situations where a partial exclusion may be available (change in employment, health reasons, or unforeseen circumstances), safe harbors are available. If the taxpayer meets the safe harbor, the sale is deemed to be by reason of that event. However, taxpayers who do not meet a safe harbor can still qualify for a partial exclusion if they demonstrate that one of the three qualifying situations was the primary reason for the sale or exchange. The following may indicate that an event or circumstance was the primary reason for a premature home sale [Reg. 1.121-3(b)]:
• 1. A short time between the sale and the circumstances giving rise to it.
• 2. The property's suitability as the taxpayer's principal residence materially changes.
• 3. The taxpayer's financial ability to maintain the property is materially impaired.
• 4. The taxpayer used the property as a residence while he or she owned it.
• 5. The circumstances giving rise to the sale were not reasonably foreseeable when the taxpayer began using the property as the principal residence.
• 6. The circumstances giving rise to the