Gyms in Pasadena

Most membership gyms count as health spas under Texas law. They can't operate or sell memberships without a certificate of registration from the Secretary of State, one per location, which costs $100 and lasts a year. The certificate must be posted where you can see it, and the registration number must be in your contract.

Search the gym on the Secretary of State's health spa search, or check the PDF list of registered locations that's updated every Wednesday. Both show whether the gym has posted security, a bond or certificate of deposit of $20,000 to $50,000 per location held for members if it closes. Gyms that never take contracts or prepayment over 31 days, financing, bank drafts or initiation fees can be exempt.

Some places sit outside the Act: tax-exempt nonprofits, member-owned private clubs, dance- or aerobics-only studios and school programs among them. Ask which kind you're joining.

Change your mind within three business days and the law is on your side: written notice by certified mail, sent before midnight of the third business day after the contract date, gets a full refund. The contract has to say so in conspicuous 10-point type. A membership can't run more than three years, and a financed one can't require payments for more than five.

You can also cancel for a partial refund if the gym closes without offering a site within 10 miles, moves more than 10 miles, or doesn't provide the services it advertised. A member who dies or becomes totally and permanently disabled, or their estate, can cancel and get unearned payments back. A contract signed with an unregistered gym is void.

Hurricane season in Harris County runs June 1 to November 30. If a storm keeps your gym closed for 30 days or more, the contract extension rule applies. A planned closing needs notice at each entrance at least 30 days ahead, though not after a fire, flood or act of God. If a gym closes for good, you claim against its security by mailing your contract and proof of payment to the Secretary of State within 90 days of the closure notice on the SOS website.

For price, the national average was $28.58 a month in 2021 (Statista via Forbes Health), with gyms ranging from about $10 to $300. Fixr's January 2025 figures put basic gyms at $15 to $40 a month and better-equipped ones at $50 to $100. The Secretary of State's role ends at registration, so a complaint about how a Pasadena gym does business goes to the Attorney General's Consumer Protection Division, (800) 621-0508.

The full Texas guide is at gyms in Texas. Compare gyms in Baytown, or head back to the Pasadena guide.