Gyms in Beaumont

The Act says that if a gym becomes unusable for 30 consecutive days or longer because of an event beyond the owner's control, a natural disaster included, it must extend each affected member's contract by the same period. Keep a note of the dates it was closed, and ask the front desk in writing to confirm your new end date once it reopens.

A closure that turns permanent is different. A Texas gym must post notice inside and outside each entrance at least 30 days before closing or relocating and tell the Secretary of State, though that notice isn't required when fire, flood or an act of God forces the closing. If it closes without offering facilities within 10 miles, or moves more than 10 miles away, you can cancel for a partial refund. Members can also claim against the gym's posted security by mailing their contract and proof of payment to the Secretary of State within 90 days of the closure notice appearing on the SOS website.

Security a Beaumont gym posts

Unless exempt, each location posts $20,000 to $50,000 with the Secretary of State as a surety bond or certificate of deposit, scaled to its prepaid memberships: $20,000 at up to $20,000 prepaid, $50,000 above $45,000. Established gyms can be exempt by swearing every three years to assets over $50,000 per location, five years under substantially the same ownership and no closure complaints. Gyms that never require contracts or prepayment over 31 days, financing, bank drafts or initiation fees can be exempt too.

A health spa under Texas law is any business that sells memberships for exercise instruction or facilities, which covers most gyms. Each location needs a Secretary of State certificate of registration, at $100 a year, posted where members can see it, and your contract must carry the number. Search the SOS health spa listing, or its weekly PDF list updated every Wednesday, for registration and security status.

• A contract is void if the gym wasn't registered when you signed, or if you relied on willfully false or misleading information.
• No gym may advertise that it is "bonded by the state" or misrepresent staff qualifications, facilities or likely results.
• A gym that sells memberships before opening must hold the money in an FDIC-insured escrow account until 30 days after opening, unless exempt. If it doesn't open within 180 days of its first sale, or doesn't stay open 30 days, prepaying members are generally owed a full refund.

Nonprofits, member-owned clubs, dance or aerobics-only studios and rehab providers fall outside the Act, so its protections may not apply there.

For a Beaumont price benchmark, Fixr's national figures put a basic membership at $15 to $40 a month and better-equipped gyms at $50 to $100 (January 2025). The average was $28.58 a month in 2021, according to Statista as cited by Forbes Health.

Read the term before the price. Texas caps contracts at three years and financed payments at five. A certified-mail notice sent by midnight of the third business day after the contract date gets you a full refund, and a member who dies or becomes totally and permanently disabled, or their estate, can cancel and recover unearned payments. The contract must state these rights in conspicuous 10-point type.

The Secretary of State only registers gyms, so a dispute over sales tactics or refunds belongs with the Attorney General's Consumer Protection Division, (800) 621-0508. A violation of the Act is a deceptive trade practice. The full guide is on our Texas gyms hub; compare gyms in Baytown, and see the Beaumont hub for local services.