1 – Sell it to someone else! – This is usually the first method that timeshare owners will look into. It is unfortunate that this rarely works, however, when people first purchase their timeshare they are assured that if they ever want to get rid of it that they can easily sell or rent it out. This misconception has caused a lot of timeshare owners to spend a lot of time and money trying to sell their timeshare with little to no success. The fact is that the timeshare resorts still have hundreds of thousands of timeshare intervals to sell, so you basically have to compete with them to resell yours and it just doesn’t work for most timeshare owners.
2 – Rent it out to cover the cost of ownership! – This is another common response that people choose for getting out of their timeshare obligations. However, the problem with this option is that, again, the timeshare resorts are already renting out empty timeshare units for cheaper than the cost of ownership. This makes it really hard to rent your timeshare out for any amount that would cover the cost of owning the timeshare.
3 – Donate it to a charity! – When timeshare owners realize that they will most likely not be able to make a profit from selling or renting out their timeshare they look for ways to just get rid of it. The only problem is that charities and organizations that accept timeshares are wise to what it means to take over ownership. Most charities will simply not accept a timeshare unless they are positive they will be able to make money from it or at least put it to good use. Usually only the most luxurious top notch timeshares are eligible to be donated.
4 – Just stop paying for it and don’t use it! – A lot of timeshare owners are under the impression that they can get out of their timeshare whenever they feel like it. These owners think that if they stop using their timeshare then they can just stop paying for it. They assume that the resort will take over ownership for it, sadly this is incorrect and the timeshare resort you purchased from has a lot of legally binding obligations with serious consequences if not abided by. This is one option that no timeshare owner should try out, you will only end up with a lot of timeshare debt that you may not be able to get out of.
5 – Pay someone to take it off your hands! – Recently a lot of timeshare owners have opted to actually pay someone else to take their timeshare obligations from them. These have been called “timeshare relief” companies and they offer an exit solution that gets you out of your timeshare once and for all. The only problem with these is that you have to pay for the services of timeshare removal, the good thing is that after you use them you will not receive any more maintenance fees or other timeshare related charges.
6 – Give it back to the resort! – This option is technically a very viable option in some situations. However in most timeshare contracts it will state that the resort is in no way obligated to take your timeshare back. In these contracts it often states that there must be a name on the timeshare contract at all times, which pretty much guarantees the resort will be receiving their regular maintenance fee dues no matter what. If your timeshare contract is not full proof you may be able to use this to get out of your timeshare contract.
7 – List it and hope it sells! – This is probably one of the first stops a lot of timeshare owners will check. They are happy to see that you can list your timeshare for sale for only $20 or $30 a month and people will contact you to buy or rent it. The problem is that there are so many timeshare listing sites and none of them really work. They make a lot of money by charging each user a listing fee or advertising fee, which is small but adds up. What is the real problem with listing your timeshare is that no one will ever find it, people do not go to these listing sites to search for a nice timeshare to buy or rent, they are already sitting at a timeshare presentation like you did and are going to buy a new one to make sure they get the most up to date rewards and bonuses upon purchasing their timeshare.
8 – Try to get a timeshare salesman to sell for you – This is a fairly unique idea that not many timeshare owners are sure to have tried. This method for timeshare removal would require you to essentially entice a timeshare salesman to sell your specific unit and interval in return for a commission on the sale. This is not a legitimate method as I have not heard of anyone ever actually getting a timeshare seller to help them sell their week, and they would probably say no as they have their own brand new timeshare units to try and sell 52 intervals on.
9 – Find a loop hole! – If you are savvy enough you may be able to find a technicality or legal method to get out of your timeshare. Some timeshare contracts are not as iron-clad as they are made out to be. It is true that most timeshare contracts are extremely full proof and there is little to nothing you can do to get out aside from putting someone else on the timeshare contract so that you can take your name off. If you do happen to find a way to dispose of your timeshare contract legally please share it with the online community so that others may try to legally get rid of their timeshare obligations at little to no cost to them.
10 – Pass away – This is by far the worst, most unfortunate way to be free from your timeshare. And in many cases, even dying does not solve the problem of timeshare ownership. If you have anyone to inherit your assets they will be assigned as the new owners of your timeshare. This is a terrible thing to pass on to your loved ones and is why it is important to take care of your timeshare before it is too late. You would never want to leave something as financially burdensome as a timeshare to your family.