Gym Membership Texts and the TCPA: Renewals, Promos, Lists

A renewal reminder and a New Year promotion can go out on the same platform and still fall under different rules. Reminders about an existing membership are rarely the problem. Promotional texts to lapsed members are, because the permission behind them has a clock on it, and a stop request ends it early. A membership business that can show when each member last paid, and what each member said back, usually has more defenses than a demand letter suggests.

Which membership texts raise TCPA risk?

The promotional ones do. The FCC’s rules define “telemarketing” as “the initiation of a telephone call or message for the purpose of encouraging the purchase or rental of, or investment in, property, goods, or services,” in 47 C.F.R. § 64.1200(f)(13). A billing notice or a class-schedule change doesn’t fit that definition. A text offering half-price January dues does.

That line matters because the Do Not Call rules in the same section apply to telemarketing, and the rule itself says they cover “telephone solicitations or telemarketing calls or text messages to wireless telephone numbers” to the extent described in the FCC’s 2003 order. A claim under those rules belongs, under 47 U.S.C. § 227(c)(5), to a person who “has received more than one telephone call within any 12-month period by or on behalf of the same entity.” One text isn’t a Do Not Call case. A pattern is.

The other claim, autodialed texts under § 227(b), is narrower than most demand letters assume. In Facebook, Inc. v. Duguid, the Supreme Court held that an autodialer is a device that “must have the capacity either to store a telephone number using a random or sequential generator or to produce a telephone number using a random or sequential number generator.” A texting platform that sends to your member list usually doesn’t qualify. I’d still read the platform’s technical documentation before leaning on that.

Can we text a lapsed member a January offer?

Often yes, for a limited time. A prior customer is outside the Registry rule while an established business relationship lasts. The FCC’s definition runs on “the subscriber’s purchase or transaction with the entity within the eighteen (18) months immediately preceding the date of the telephone call,” or an inquiry “within the three months immediately preceding the date of the call,” under § 64.1200(f)(5).

Here’s where membership businesses get hurt, and I think it’s the most underestimated piece of this whole area: the 18 months run from the last purchase or transaction, not from the day someone first joined. A member who joined in 2022 and last paid in June 2024 is outside the window by January 2026. A free-trial inquiry gives you three months, not eighteen. Most lists I’d expect to see in a fitness or membership business mix both kinds of people, and the CRM rarely stores the date the rule cares about.

Two other limits apply even inside the window. The first is quiet hours: the rule bars solicitations “before the hour of 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m. (local time at the called party’s location),” per § 64.1200(c)(1), so a campaign scheduled by the club’s time zone can land late for a member who moved. The second is the internal do-not-call list. Under § 64.1200(d)(3), a company that telemarkets must honor a request “within a reasonable time from the date such request is made. This period may not exceed ten (10) business days from the receipt of such request.”

What happens when a member replies STOP but keeps paying dues?

The promotions stop, and the relationship that excused them ends. The FCC’s definition says a seller-specific request “terminates an established business relationship for purposes of telemarketing and telephone solicitation even if the subscriber continues to do business with the seller,” under § 64.1200(f)(5)(i). In my view this is the single most common way a membership business creates a claim out of a loyal customer: the member keeps paying, the billing system keeps texting, and nobody connects the STOP reply to the marketing list.

Separate the two streams in your systems. A member who opts out of promotions can still get a billing notice, but the marketing platform and the account platform have to share the suppression, and the opt-out has to be dated.

One development to watch. The FCC’s 2024 revocation order includes a rule that a revocation in response to one kind of message applies to all future robocalls and robotexts from that caller. In DA 25-312, the FCC’s Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau granted a limited waiver and found “good cause exists to delay the effective date for this requirement until April 11, 2026.” Until then, a reply to a billing text doesn’t have to be treated as an opt-out of unrelated promotional robotexts. After that date it may.

What does California add for clubs texting California members?

A separate statute, and a helpful exception. California’s Business and Professions Code § 17538.41 bars text message advertisements to California residents, except that “This section shall not apply to text messages transmitted by a business, candidate, or political committee that has an existing relationship with the subscriber if the subscriber is offered an option not to receive text messages from that business, candidate, or political committee.” A current or recent member with a working opt-out sits inside that exception. A cold list does not.

What to pull when a membership text claim arrives

1. Freeze the messaging platform’s logs for the number: every send, its time stamp in the member’s time zone, and the campaign it belonged to.
2. Export the member’s payment history, so you can show the last purchase or transaction before each text.
3. Pull the stop and opt-out record, including replies in words other than STOP, with dates.
4. Collect the Registry scrub dates used for each promotional campaign, and the written do-not-call policy in force.
5. Hold off on answering the demand letter, texting the claimant, or offering free months until a lawyer has read the file.

The firm’s TCPA litigation defense page covers how demand letters and class actions move through state and federal court. If your keyword sign-up flow is the weak point, the earlier post on text-to-join and double opt-in records covers what a defensible record looks like.

Questions membership businesses ask about texts

Do we need consent to send a billing reminder?

If the message has no promotion and doesn’t use equipment that meets the Duguid definition, the TCPA’s autodialer provision isn’t triggered, and the Do Not Call rules don’t reach it because it isn’t telemarketing. Your record of the member giving the number at sign-up is the usual starting point for a consent defense. A billing text that adds an upgrade offer is a different message, and I’d treat it as telemarketing until a lawyer says otherwise.

How long does a lapsed member stay on the safe side?

For Registry and quiet-hours purposes, 18 months from the last purchase or transaction, if the member hasn’t asked you to stop. That’s the rule’s text, so build the date into the list filter, not the marketing calendar.

Does one stop request cover every location or affiliate?

Not automatically. Under § 64.1200(d)(5), a request applies to the entity making the call and doesn’t extend to affiliates unless the consumer “reasonably would expect them to be included.” Multi-location operators under one brand should assume a member would expect all of them to honor it.

Can a promotion text sent in error be defended?

Sometimes. Section 227(c)(5) gives a defendant an affirmative defense if it “has established and implemented, with due care, reasonable practices and procedures to effectively prevent telephone solicitations in violation of the regulations.” That depends on written procedures and on records you can produce, which is why the opt-out and scrub logs matter.

Does a free-trial sign-up count as an inquiry?

Probably, if the person asked about your services. The definition covers “the subscriber’s inquiry or application regarding products or services offered by the entity” within the previous three months, under § 64.1200(f)(5). A trial pass that someone requests online is an inquiry. A name pulled from a purchased list isn’t, so keep the source of each trial lead with the date.

Defending membership text claims

If your company has been sued or received a demand letter over promotional texts to members or former members, the last-transaction dates and opt-out logs will shape the defense. Rosenberger + Kawabata represents businesses defending TCPA lawsuits and class actions through its business litigation practice, including claims involving promotional texts to current and former customers. Contact Rosenberger + Kawabata online for a free and confidential consultation, or call (310) 894-6921.

Sources

The statute is the Telephone Consumer Protection Act at 47 U.S.C. § 227. The FCC’s rules are at 47 C.F.R. § 64.1200, as published in the eCFR on January 1, 2026. The FCC’s waiver order is DA 25-312 (Apr. 7, 2025), and California’s text-advertising statute is Bus. & Prof. Code § 17538.41.

The court decision is Facebook, Inc. v. Duguid, 592 U.S. 395 (2021).

This post is general information about the Telephone Consumer Protection Act and related laws as of January 1, 2026. It is not legal advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Courts and the FCC change the rules in this area often, and the outcome of any claim depends on its facts. Past results do not guarantee future outcomes.