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Gov. Phil Murphy signed a bill on Monday, Jan. 8, that aims to increase transparency for canceling gym memberships online. The law will require gym subscription services that can be entered into online to offer an online cancellation option.
A gym's website must make an option to cancel a membership easily accessible, within a person's account profile, or through a termination email template provided by the service.
Gov. Murphy said the goal of the law is to make it easier for customers to end automatic gym membership renewals and avoid getting stuck in difficult in-person cancellation policies.
"New Jerseyans will be protected from confusing, misleading, and inflexible subscription cancellation policies,” said Gov. Murphy in a news release. “For too long, members have faced difficulties when attempting to cancel a membership they entered into online.
"With these new requirements, we can ensure a simplified gym membership cancellation process for consumers and hardworking families can evade the financial burden of perpetual automatic renewals.”
The new law also limits the length of contracts to three years. Gyms must issue refunds within 30 days of cancellation. Prorated refunds are also required if a gym is closed for 30 or more days.
State Sen. Gordon Johnson, D-Englewood, was one of the co-sponsors of the bill and said it will protect people financially.
“It’s simple, if you sign up for a gym membership online, you should be able to cancel your membership online as well,” State Sen. Johnson said in the governor's news release. “This is good policy which will undoubtedly benefit the consumers of New Jersey and save people from undue headaches.”
The bill goes into effect on Monday, Apr. 1.
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