Gyms in New Braunfels

The Texas Health Spa Act covers any business that sells memberships for instruction in, or use of facilities for, a physical exercise program. It does not cover tax-exempt nonprofits, member-owned private clubs, studios that only teach dance or aerobics, rehab providers or school programs. A covered gym needs a certificate of registration for each location; it costs $100 and lasts a year.

• Search it. The Secretary of State's online health spa search shows whether a gym is registered and whether it has posted security. A PDF list of registered locations is also updated every Wednesday.
• Look for the certificate. It must be posted where members can see it at each location, and the registration number must appear in your contract.
• Check the security. Unless exempt, a gym posts $20,000 to $50,000 per location, rising with its prepaid memberships, as a bond or certificate of deposit for members if it closes.

A gym that never requires contracts or prepayment over 31 days, financing, bank drafts or initiation fees can be exempt from the security rule, as can long-established gyms that swear to over $50,000 in assets per location, five years under the same ownership and no closure complaints. A contract signed with an unregistered gym is void.

You can cancel a Texas gym contract for a full refund by sending written notice by certified mail by midnight of the third business day after the contract date. The contract must state that right in conspicuous 10-point type, along with your rights if the gym closes or moves more than 10 miles.

A contract may run no longer than three years, and a financed one may not require payments for more than five. A member who dies or becomes totally and permanently disabled, or their estate, can cancel and get unearned payments back. Gyms may not advertise that they are bonded by the state or misrepresent staff qualifications, facilities or likely results.

New Braunfels quotes the National Weather Service in calling Central Texas the most flash-flood-prone area in the country. If a gym is unusable for 30 days or more because of an event beyond the owner's control, such as a natural disaster, it must extend affected members' contracts by the same length of time.

A gym must post notice inside and outside each entrance at least 30 days before closing or relocating, and tell the Secretary of State; a flood, fire or other act of God that forces the closure is the exception. You can cancel for a partial refund if it closes without offering a location within 10 miles, moves more than 10 miles, or stops providing advertised services. After a closure, claims against the posted security go to the Secretary of State by mail, with your contract and proof of payment, within 90 days of the notice appearing on the SOS website.

New gyms opening in New Braunfels

A gym selling memberships before it opens must hold prepayments in an FDIC-insured escrow account until 30 days after opening, unless exempt. If it does not open within 180 days of first selling, or does not stay open 30 days, prepaying members are generally owed a full refund.

National guides are the price yardstick. Fixr (January 2025) puts a basic membership at $15 to $40 a month and gyms with more advanced equipment at $50 to $100. Forbes Health, citing Statista, gave a 2021 average of $28.58 a month. The Texas gym guide compares membership types.

The Secretary of State registers gyms but does not regulate how they do business. If a New Braunfels gym won't honor the Act, call the Attorney General's consumer protection line, (800) 621-0508; a Health Spa Act violation counts as a deceptive trade practice. Other city services are on the New Braunfels hub; lake residents can compare Canyon Lake gyms, and a New Braunfels dentist is the other routine booking to set up after a move.