Gyms in League City

Most membership gyms count as health spas under the Act, and each location must hold its own SOS certificate of registration, renewed yearly for $100. Search the Secretary of State's online health spa listing to confirm it, and to see whether the gym has posted security. A weekly PDF list, updated every Wednesday, shows the same thing.

Not every fitness business is covered. Nonprofits, member-owned private clubs, studios that only teach dance or aerobics, rehab providers and school programs are outside the Act, so their contracts don't carry its protections. Ask a studio which category it falls in.

League City gym security and bonding

A covered gym posts $20,000 to $50,000 of security per location with the SOS, scaled to prepaid memberships, unless it qualifies for an exemption, for example by never requiring contracts or prepayment over 31 days, financing, automatic drafts or initiation fees. Established gyms can also be exempt if they swear every three years to assets over $50,000 per location, five years under substantially the same ownership and no closure complaints. A gym may never advertise that it's "bonded by the state", and it can't misrepresent its staff's qualifications or the results you're likely to see.

A new contract can be undone for a full refund if your written notice goes out by certified mail before midnight of the third business day after the contract date. That right, and your rights if the gym closes or moves, must appear in the contract in conspicuous 10-point type.

• Contracts can't run longer than three years, and financed ones can't require payments for more than five.
• If the gym moves more than 10 miles, closes without a facility within 10 miles or drops advertised services, you can cancel for a partial refund.
• Death or total and permanent disability lets the member or estate cancel and recover unearned payments.
• If a storm or other event beyond the owner's control closes the gym for 30 days or more, your contract is extended by the same time.

New League City gyms selling early

A gym that sells memberships before opening must hold the money in FDIC-insured escrow until 30 days after it opens, unless exempt. If it doesn't open within 180 days of its first sale, or doesn't stay open 30 days, prepaid members are generally owed a full refund.

Fixr's January 2025 national figures put basic memberships at $15 to $40 a month and better-equipped gyms at $50 to $100, and Forbes Health, citing Statista, gives a 2021 average of $28.58 with a range of about $10 to $300. Total the monthly fee, any initiation or annual fee and the contract length before comparing. The Texas gym guide covers contracts in more depth.

A closing gym must post notice at every entrance at least 30 days ahead and tell the SOS, unless fire, flood or another act of God forces the closure. Members then have 90 days from the SOS website notice to claim against the security by mailing the contract and proof of payment. Complaints about practices go to the Attorney General's Consumer Protection Division at (800) 621-0508, since the SOS only registers gyms. See the League City hub for local services, gyms in Webster, or League City dentists.