Attorney General Letitia James has taken legal action against Atlas Risen Corp., the company behind Aneva Gym in Long Island City, for allegedly defrauding their customers. The New York Attorney General's lawsuit claims the gym violated state laws designed to protect health club members by not offering proper contracts and setting up roadblocks that made it difficult for members to cancel subscriptions. According to an official press release, the suit seeks restitution, the nullification of illegal membership agreements, disgorgement of profits, and penalties against Aneva Gym.
"When New Yorkers join a gym, they deserve clear contracts that allow them to cancel their memberships quickly and easily," AG James said in the release. She went on to describe how Aneva Gym's refusal to provide written agreements and its illegal policies were a direct breach of the consumer trust. The Attorney General's Office found that Aneva Gym, since its opening in 2022, failed to sufficiently to provide contracts and posted unlawful conditions online that included a physical in-person requirement for membership cancellation.
Under New York law, customers are meant to have the option to cancel gym memberships with less restriction, including the ability to do so via website, email, mail, or telephone and without the necessity of doing so 30 days in advance. The OAG's investigation also revealed that Aneva Gym had not posted a required $50,000 bond with the New York Department of State. This bond serves to protect consumers in cases where the gym might fail to uphold its service commitments or go out of business.
In their steps to protect consumers, AG James also mentioned past victories that include a $600,000 settlement from Equinox for making it hard for members to cancel their agreements, and a $4.8 million recovery from SmileDirectClub for customers who were improperly charged post-bankruptcy. James has also taken on SiriusXM, winning a court battle when it was determined the company had trapped consumers into unwanted subscriptions by creating an unnecessarily difficult cancellation process. She advises any customer with a complaint about Aneva Gym to submit a consumer complaint online or reach out to the OAG Hotline.
The Consumer Frauds & Protection Bureau, under the guidance of Assistant Attorney General Melvin Goldberg and supervised by Jane M. Azia and Laura J. Levine, is handling the case. The Bureau is part of the Division of Economic Justice, which comes under Chief Deputy Attorney General Chris D'Angelo with oversight by First Deputy Attorney General Jennifer Levy.
