Massachusetts General Laws

Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 93, § 80 (2026)

Contracts for health club services; terms

✓ current as of July 2026
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Section 80. No contract for health club services shall be for a term measured by the life of the buyer. No contract for health club services shall be for a term longer than thirty-six months, except that upon expiration of the contract, the seller may offer to the buyer the right to renew his contract for a similar, shorter or longer period not to exceed thirty-six months.

No contract for health club services shall require payments or financing by the buyer over a period that extends more than one month beyond the expiration of the contract. The installment payments shall be in substantially equal amounts exclusive of the down payment and shall be required to be made at substantially equal intervals, not more frequently than one payment per month.

No contract for health club services may contain any provisions whereby the buyer agrees not to assert against the seller or any assignee or transferee of the health club services contract any claim or defense arising out of the health club services contract or the buyer's activities at the health club. No contract for services may require the buyer to execute a promissory note or series of promissory notes which, when negotiated, cuts off as to third parties a defense which the buyer may have against the seller. No contract may be assigned by one health club to another health club without written consent of the buyer.

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 1 case, 2007–2007 · leading case: Ruiz v. Bally Total Fitness Holding Corp., 496 F.3d 1 (1st Cir. 2007).
Ruiz v. Bally Total Fitness Holding Corp., 496 F.3d 1 (1st Cir. 2007). · cites it 3× “Two of them comprise the focal point of this appeal: (i) that the Contract violated a provision of the Massachusetts Health Club Services Contracts Act (the HCSCA) prohibiting the required financing of a health-club contract for more than one month beyond the expiration of that…”
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