(a)  No contract for health club services shall be for a term longer than twenty-four (24) months; except that upon expiration of the contract, the seller may offer the buyer the right to renew his or her contract for a similar, shorter or longer period not to exceed twenty-four (24) months.

Terms Used In Rhode Island General Laws 5-50-5

  • Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
  • Health club: means any corporation, partnership, unincorporated association, or other business enterprise offering facilities for the preservation, maintenance, encouragement, or development of physical fitness or well-being in return for the payment of a fee entitling the payer to the use of the facilities. See Rhode Island General Laws 5-50-1
  • Seller: means any person, firm, corporation, partnership, unincorporated association, franchise, franchisor, or other business enterprise that operates a health club or offers or enters into contracts for health club services. See Rhode Island General Laws 5-50-1

(b)  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.

(c)  No contract for health club services may contain any provisions where 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.

(d)  No contract for services may require the buyer to execute a promissory note or series of promissory notes that, when negotiated, cuts off as to third parties a defense that the buyer may have against the seller.

History of Section.
P.L. 1996, ch. 154, § 1.