Physzique LLC, which operates a Liberty Lake-based fitness center, has reached an agreement with the Washington state Attorney General's Office over customer-raised concerns and is expected to change business practices that the Attorney General says are unlawful.

The Attorney General's Office says it filed a lawsuit against the health club earlier this month alleging Physzique violated state law by not including clauses in its contract allowing customers to cancel their membership if they moved more than 25 miles away from the fitness center and outlining that the health club couldn't raise membership dues more than once a year.

Also, under the agreement, the business isn't allowed to guarantee specific weight loss or percent body-fat reduction without supporting scientific evidence. As part of that agreement, Physzique also is required to make it clear when people are signing a contract and disclose all terms and conditions that may apply.

The owners couldn't be reached immediately for comment.

Physzique has been ordered to pay $15,000 in attorneys' fees accrued as a result of the investigation, which began in February.

The Attorney General's offices says it was alerted to the questionable practices by the Better Business Bureau of Eastern Washington, North Idaho and Montana, which had received 14 customer complaints about Physzique over the prior 12 months and visited the facility as a secret shopper to investigate the complaints.. As of Sept. 25, the BBB had given the health club an "F" rating due to its failure to cooperate with BBB efforts to address a pattern of complaints and misleading advertisements.

"Consumers believed they weren't signing into a contract when they, in fact, were," says Kris Byrum, lead investigator for the BBB Spokane office.

Complaints on file with the BBB say the business offered free trial periods and consultations that required customers to provide credit card information. Customer cards were allegedly charged $175 if they didn't show up for their allotted free session.