Rented part of a primary residence

[Ryan Underwood]

Sorry if this is in the wrong forum--

I rented part of my primary residence, like this:

2006 1/3 of it was rented
2007 1/3 of it was rented
2008 1/3 of it was rented
.etc

but I stopped a few years ago. During that time I took depreciation on my taxes for the amount of my home that was rented. I still live there but no longer rent the space and am curious what happens when I sell. I'm aware of the capital gains exclusion of up to 500k of profit (for me and the wife), but is there ANY way around the recapture of the portion I depreciated? And furthermore, I've heard that the IRS will _assume_ you depreciated things even if you didn't take it on your taxes, so when I didn't depreciate for the past few years, will they be assuming I'm on a straight line depreciation for 1/3 of my home (thus I now pay even more in taxes when I sell)? Hopefully someone can translate/understand what I'm asking. Thanks in advance