I was able to get rid of mine with very little work. You need to find out how to contact the loss mitigation department at your timeshare corporation. Then send an email that says something to the effect that you are retiring, your finances have changed, and you can no longer afford to keep the timeshare (regardless of whether that is true or not
). I explained that I was not looking for any compensation, but just wanted to give it back to the company. I was contacted by them in less than 2 days, and was told that all I had to pay was a $200 legal fee to transfer ownership back to them.
Very easy and painless - at least for me. That was about 3 years ago.