FTC Sues Gym Chain for Obstructing Membership Cancellation Attempts

​On August 20, 2025, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) filed a lawsuit in the Central District of California against the operators of LA Fitness and affiliated gym chains, alleging systematic consumer protection violations related to membership cancellation practices. The complaint represents the latest enforcement action in the FTC's ongoing campaign against businesses that make subscription cancellations unnecessarily difficult.

The Defendants and Scope of Operations

The lawsuit targets Fitness International, LLC and Fitness & Sports Clubs, LLC, California-based companies that operate several major gym brands including LA Fitness, Esporta Fitness, City Sports Club, and Club Studios, which collectively serve over 3.7 million members. The companies offer memberships ranging from $30 to $299 per month, with various add-on services such as personal training and towel service that carry additional recurring charges.

Cumbersome and Restrictive Cancellation Policies

In its Complaint, the FTC alleges that LA Fitness employed "opaque and complicated methods" to prevent members from easily canceling their membership. Instead, members seeking to cancel were required to log into the company's website to print a cancellation form, but the login process itself created significant barriers. The system required consumers to provide their original email address, a "key tag" number assigned at signup, and the first five digits of their credit card or bank account number to reset forgotten login credentials.

For members attempting to cancel in person, the Complaint alleges LA Fitness imposed unreasonable restrictions. For example, cancellations could only be processed by one specific designated employee at each location, despite multiple staff members being authorized to sign up new memberships. This limitation forced consumers to visit during restricted hours that typically coincided with normal working times, even though most LA Fitness locations operated up to 19 hours per day, seven days per week.

Members choosing to cancel by mail were directed to download and print cancellation forms from the website, which presented its own set of challenges, and were instructed to send the forms via certified or registered mail, imposing additional costs and complexity on the cancellation process.

Inadequate Disclosures and Aggressive Rebilling Practices

The Complaint further alleges LA Fitness failed to clearly inform consumers that add-on services like towel service, childcare, or personal training could be cancelled independently of the main membership and through simpler procedures available with virtually any gym employee.

Perhaps most concerning, the FTC alleges that consumers who attempted to stop charges through their banks or credit card companies discovered they were rebilled under new account numbers, effectively circumventing consumer attempts to halt unwanted charges.

According to the FTC's complaint, these practices resulted in "hundreds of millions of dollars in unwanted recurring fees" charged to consumers. The agency reports receiving tens of thousands of complaints from LA Fitness members who experienced difficulties cancelling their memberships.

Legal Violations Claimed

The FTC's complaint asserts violations of two key federal statutes:

Section 5 of the FTC Act: The agency alleges the companies' practices constitute unfair acts or practices in commerce, causing substantial injury to consumers that cannot be reasonably avoided and is not outweighed by countervailing benefits.

Restore Online Shoppers' Confidence Act (ROSCA): The FTC claims violations of ROSCA, which requires companies offering recurring subscription services to provide simple cancellation mechanisms. The law mandates clear disclosure of cancellation procedures and prohibits companies from making cancellation unreasonably difficult.

The Commission is seeking comprehensive relief for these alleged violations, including permanent injunctive relief prohibiting the allegedly unfair cancellation practices, monetary damages, and restitution for consumers harmed by the difficult cancellation procedures. In addition, the FTC is seeking a court order requiring the implementation of simple, accessible cancellation methods.

Response and Defense

For its part, Fitness International has vigorously denied the allegations, calling them "without merit." In a statement, Jill Hill, President of Club Operations, argued that ROSCA was "designed to address only online retail transactions" and has "never before been applied to the health club industry."

The company emphasized that it voluntarily launched an online cancellation option 18 months before the FTC's proposed "Click-to-Cancel" rule was scheduled to take effect, allowing members to cancel "with just a few clicks." Despite a federal appeals court invalidating the Click-to-Cancel rule in July 2025, LA Fitness maintained its online cancellation system.

The Broader Regulatory Context

This lawsuit represents part of the FTC's sustained enforcement campaign against subscription traps and difficult cancellation practices across industries. The agency has previously targeted companies like Uber and Amazon over similar subscription-related practices, and continues pursuing enforcement actions even after a federal appeals court struck down the Click-to-Cancel rule.

FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson characterized the case as addressing a problem so pervasive that "the show 'Friends' did an entire episode about how hard it is to cancel gym memberships." The lawsuit demonstrates the FTC's commitment to protecting consumers from recurring billing practices that restrict their ability to control their own financial commitments, regardless of the industry involved.