Texas Martial Arts Membership Contracts: What School Owners Need to Know
Full legal profile: this brief covers membership contracts only. For cancellation and automatic renewal, background checks and child safeguarding, licensing and insurance, and MMA and combat-sports rules, see Martial arts laws in Texas in the Martial Arts Legal & Regulatory Center.
Texas is one of only three jurisdictions in this survey where the law reaches martial arts instruction by name rather than by inference. The governing framework is the Health Spa Act.
The statute or its legislative history names martial arts, self-defense schools, karate or judo directly. Coverage is not a matter of inference.
Does the law reach a martial arts school?
Directly relevant. Statutory facilities include martial arts equipment; martial arts schools selling exercise instruction generally are not exempt merely because they are martial arts schools.
Primary authority
Tex. Occ. Code ch. 702; 1 Tex. Admin. Code ch. 102. The relevant framework is commonly described as health Spa Act.
What to verify
- Annual registration
- Approved contract structure
- Three-business-day cancellation
- Death/disability/relocation
- Security of $20,000-$50,000 unless exempt
- Pre-opening escrow
Bonding and financial security
Each location generally must maintain security based on prepaid-membership exposure, from $20,000 to $50,000, unless a statutory exemption is approved. Acceptable security includes a surety bond or assigned certificate of deposit.
Contract length and renewals
The Health Spa Act restricts the permissible membership term and requires statutory cancellation provisions. Confirm the current cap in Chapter 702 before rollout.
Prepaid memberships
Pre-opening payments must be placed in an FDIC-insured escrow account within the statutory deadline and held through the required post-opening period. Security is based on prepaid exposure. Month-to-month operations may qualify for a security exemption only if every statutory condition is met.
Licensing, registration and contract filing
An operator must obtain a certificate of registration for each health-spa location before operating or selling memberships, file sample contracts and proof of security, pay the fee, and renew annually.
Statutory citations
- Texas Occupations Code Chapter 702
- Texas Administrative Code Chapter 102
- Texas SOS Health Spa FAQ
Official source
- https://www.sos.state.tx.us/statdoc/faqs3000.shtml (confirmed government source)
Before you act on this
This article provides general information and is not legal advice. Health-club, membership-contract, automatic-renewal, consumer-protection and local licensing laws change and may apply differently depending on the services, facilities, payment terms and location of a martial arts school. Confirm the current statute, regulations and agency guidance, and take advice from a lawyer admitted in the relevant jurisdiction, before changing a contract or a sales process.
