Gyms in Galveston

The Act treats any business selling memberships for exercise instruction or facilities as a health spa, which covers most membership gyms. Each location needs a certificate of registration from the Secretary of State before it sells memberships, at $100 a year. The certificate must be posted where you can see it, and the registration number goes in your contract.

Check a gym on the Secretary of State's online health spa search, which also shows whether it has posted security. The SOS publishes a list of registered locations every Wednesday. Tax-exempt nonprofits, member-owned clubs, dance-only or aerobics-only studios and school programs fall outside the Act, so a community or nonprofit facility may not be on the list.

Galveston gym security bonds

Unless exempt, a gym posts $20,000 to $50,000 of security per location, rising with how much members have prepaid, as a bond or certificate of deposit. Month-to-month gyms with no prepayment over 31 days, no financing, no automatic drafts and no initiation fees can be exempt, as can gyms that swear every three years to assets over $50,000 per location, five years under the same ownership and no closure complaints.

• Three-day cancel. Send written notice by certified mail by midnight of the third business day after the contract date for a full refund.
• Length. A contract may run no longer than three years, and financed payments no longer than five.
• Moves and closures. If the gym closes without a location within 10 miles, moves more than 10 miles away or drops advertised services, you can cancel for a partial refund. Ask where the gym's other locations are before you sign.
• Death or disability. A member who dies or becomes totally and permanently disabled, or their estate, can cancel for a refund of unearned payments.

Those rights must appear in the contract in conspicuous 10-point type. A contract is void if the gym wasn't registered when you signed, and members can't waive the Act's protections.

Galveston gyms after a hurricane

When a storm closes a gym for 30 days or more, the Act requires the extension; keep a note of the dates and ask for the new end date in writing. A gym that closes for good must post notice at each entrance at least 30 days ahead and tell the Secretary of State. The 30-day notice doesn't apply when a fire, flood or other act of God forces the closure. Members can then claim against the security by mailing the contract and proof of payment to the SOS within 90 days of the closure notice appearing on its site.

Fixr's January 2025 national figures put a basic membership at $15 to $40 a month and gyms with more advanced equipment at $50 to $100. Forbes Health, citing Statista, put the 2021 US average at $28.58 a month. Ask for the total of every fee over the contract term, including any initiation fee, and compare that number. The Texas gym guide has more on contracts.

Galveston pre-sale memberships

A new gym selling memberships before it opens must hold prepayments in an FDIC-insured escrow account until 30 days after opening, unless exempt. If it doesn't open within 180 days of first sales, prepaying members are generally entitled to a full refund.

A Health Spa Act violation counts as a deceptive trade practice, so a dispute over a Galveston membership belongs with the Attorney General's Consumer Protection Division, (800) 621-0508; the Secretary of State only handles registration. A gym can't claim to be "bonded by the state" or misstate staff qualifications. For the island's other services see the Galveston hub; compare gyms in League City on the mainland, and Galveston dentists are listed too.