Gyms in McKinney

The Texas Health Spa Act covers any business that sells memberships for instruction in, or use of facilities for, a physical exercise program, which takes in most membership gyms. It does not cover tax-exempt nonprofits, member-owned private clubs, studios that only teach dance or aerobics, rehab providers, school programs or government clinics.

A covered gym can't operate or sell memberships without a health spa certificate of registration from the Secretary of State. It costs $100, lasts a year, must be posted at each location, and its number must appear in membership contracts. The SOS online search shows whether a gym is registered and whether it has posted security, and a PDF list of registered locations is updated every Wednesday.

Security behind a McKinney membership

Unless exempt, a gym posts $20,000 to $50,000 of security per location, rising with prepaid memberships, as a surety bond or certificate of deposit. Month-to-month gyms with no contracts or prepayment over 31 days, financing, automatic drafts or initiation fees can be exempt, and so can established gyms with over $50,000 in assets per location, five years under the same ownership and no closure complaints.

McKinney gyms set their own prices, so national figures are only a yardstick. Fixr puts a basic membership at $15 to $40 a month and gyms with more advanced equipment at $50 to $100 (January 2025). Statista, as cited by Forbes Health, put the average US membership at $28.58 a month in 2021, with prices from about $10 to $300.

Ask for the monthly rate, any initiation or annual fee and the total you would owe over the contract in writing. More on Texas gym rules is on our gyms guide.

• Three-day cancel. Send written notice by certified mail by midnight of the third business day after the contract date for a full refund. Contracts must state this right in conspicuous 10-point type.
• Length. A contract may not run longer than three years, and financed contracts may not require payments for more than five.
• Closure or move. You can cancel for a partial refund if the gym closes without offering facilities within 10 miles, moves more than 10 miles, or fails to provide advertised services. It must post notice at least 30 days before closing or relocating; that notice isn't required after a fire, flood or act of God.
• Death or disability. A member who dies or becomes totally and permanently disabled, or the estate, can cancel and get unearned payments back.

A contract is void if the seller was not registered when you signed, and members can't waive the Act's protections; a violation counts as a deceptive trade practice. A gym may not advertise that it is "bonded by the state".

Some gyms sell memberships before the doors open. A Texas gym that sells memberships before opening must hold the prepayments in an FDIC-insured escrow account until 30 days after it opens, unless exempt. If it doesn't open within 180 days of first selling memberships, or doesn't stay open 30 days, prepaying members are generally entitled to a full refund.

If a gym closes, members can claim against its security by mailing the contract and proof of payment to the Secretary of State within 90 days of the closure notice appearing on the SOS website. Keep both papers somewhere you can find them. If a storm or other event beyond the owner's control makes the gym unusable for 30 days or more, it must extend affected contracts by the same time.

For a dispute over sales tactics or billing, call the Attorney General's Consumer Protection Division at (800) 621-0508, since the SOS only files gym registrations and security. Compare gyms in Frisco if you commute west, and pair a new routine with our McKinney dentists list or the McKinney hub for other local services.