How to Cancel a Gym Membership in California, and Get Charges Refunded

How do you cancel a gym membership in California?

Whenever California's health studio law allows a cancellation, you may cancel in person, by email from an email address on file with the gym, or by first-class mail (Civil Code section 1812.84(c)). Any one of those three methods is enough. The statute does not make them depend on a certified letter, a notarized form or a meeting with a manager.

The law, called Contracts for Health Studio Services (Civil Code sections 1812.80 to 1812.98), covers contracts for exercise instruction or training, use of a gym or fitness facility, and memberships in fitness clubs. It does not cover services from licensed health professionals or classes at schools run under the Education Code (section 1812.81).

What you are cancelling matters. Outside the special windows below, an ongoing membership ends under the notice terms in your contract, and the statute limits what a gym may collect during a notice period. Separate rules can end a contract early with a refund.

Can you cancel a new gym contract for a full refund?

Yes. Every California gym contract must tell you, near the signature line, that you may cancel before midnight of the gym's fifth business day after the date of the agreement, excluding Sundays and holidays (section 1812.85(b)). All money paid must be refunded within 10 days after the gym receives your notice, less payment for services you actually used.

Larger contracts get longer windows (section 1812.85(d)):

When a contract is cancelled under these provisions, you pay only for the share of the contract that was available to you, calculated pro rata over its term, and the gym returns the rest (section 1812.85(e)). Separately, no gym contract may require total payments over $4,400, including initiation fees and excluding finance charges (section 1812.86).

Can you cancel a gym membership if you move, get hurt or the gym changes?

Yes, in several situations the statute itself spells out:

• Moving away: if you move more than 25 miles from the gym and cannot transfer to a comparable facility, you owe nothing for services after the move, and prepaid amounts for unused services must be refunded. The contract may set a fee of up to $100, or up to $50 once more than half the contract has run (section 1812.89(b)).
• Disability or death: if a condition verified by a physician prevents you from physically using the facilities, you are released from paying for services after its onset, with a refund of unused prepaid amounts (section 1812.89(a)). The same applies to your estate.
• Facilities taken away: if the gym eliminates or substantially reduces facilities described in your contract or its ads, such as a pool or tennis courts, you may cancel and get a pro rata refund. Temporary closures for reasonable repairs after notice do not count (section 1812.85(c)).
• Promised facilities never opened: services must begin within six months of signing. If advertised facilities are not provided on time, you may cancel for a pro rata refund (section 1812.85(a)).

Do California gyms have to let you cancel online?

If you signed up online for a membership that renews automatically, yes. California's Automatic Renewal Law requires a business that lets you accept online to let you cancel exclusively online, at will and immediately, through a prominent link or button or a ready-made termination email (Business and Professions Code section 17602(d)).

For contracts entered into, amended or extended on or after July 1, 2025, amendments made by AB 2863 add more (section 17602):

• A retention offer during online cancellation must appear next to a continuously displayed click to cancel button.
• On a phone line, once you say cancel, the business must process it promptly. A voicemail asking to cancel must be handled or returned within one business day.
• An annual automatic renewal agreement requires a yearly reminder showing the service, the frequency and amount of charges, and how to cancel.
• A fee change requires notice 7 to 30 days before it takes effect, with cancellation instructions.

Our guide to subscription cancellation letters covers the Automatic Renewal Law in more depth.

What fees can a gym charge when you leave?

The statute caps what a gym can hold you to. A gym contract cannot run longer than three years, and payments cannot be scheduled past the end of the term (section 1812.84(a)). A gym may collect money validly owed under the contract, including payments during a termination notice period, but only if that notice period is 30 days or less.

A contract that does not follow the health studio law is void and unenforceable (section 1812.91). A member injured by a violation can sue for damages, and judgment may be entered for three times the actual damages plus reasonable attorney fees (section 1812.94). The gym has 30 days after you sign to correct a defect in the contract, and if it does, those penalties do not apply.

Steps to cancel and stop the charges

1. Find your contract and note the signing date, term, notice period and the gym's mailing and email addresses.
2. Write a short notice: your name, member number, the location, the date and a plain statement that you are cancelling.
3. Send it by email from the address on file, or by first-class mail, and keep the sent email or a dated copy. If you joined online, also use the online cancel option and screenshot the confirmation.
4. Calendar the refund date: 10 days for a cooling-off cancellation, or the end of any notice period of 30 days or less.
5. Watch your bank or card statement. If a charge appears after the cancellation should have taken effect, dispute it with your card issuer and write to the gym.

Writing a refund demand to a gym

If charges continue, a demand letter sets out the cancellation date, the method you used, the charges made since and the amount to be refunded. Attach your cancellation email or mailing record.

If you also dispute the charges with your bank, our guide to chargebacks versus demand letters explains how the two fit together. For a broader refund dispute over services that were not delivered, see refund demand letters for bad service.

When to have an attorney write to the gym

For a single membership, the cancellation notice described above does the main work. An attorney-written letter can be useful when the gym has sent the account to collections, when a prepaid multi-year contract is at stake, when a closed location refuses pro rata refunds, or when several family members on one contract are being billed.

Through Talk to My Lawyer, a licensed California attorney writes your letter from your facts and documents (the contract, cancellation records and statements) and sends it on your behalf under the health studio and automatic renewal rules that apply. A lawyer can advise you on a claim for damages.