Landlords have always held the upper hand when it comes to evicting people.

Republican Gov. Glenn A. Youngkin is keeping it that way, according to advocates for tenants.

To the dismay of area General Assembly members who sought to give low-income tenants a little more clout, the governor vetoed legislation that would have made it easier for people at the low end of the income scale to appeal their eviction to a higher court.

Richmond State Sen. Jennifer L. McClellan and Richmond Delegate Jeffrey M. Bourne called it “deeply disappointing” that Gov. Youngkin rejected their bills to usher in reform that won majority backing during the regular 2022 session.

The two Democrats’ identical bills would have eliminated any requirement “for indigent Virginians to post bonds” to appeal their eviction cases from General District Court to the Circuit Court.

Most evictions are never appealed as the appeal bond is usually set at the amount of past due back rent along with other costs.

The legislation to allow indigent appeals without a bond passed both the House and Senate with Republican support, the two lawmakers noted.

Gov. Youngkin had sought to amend the legislation to require that indigent tenants filing an appeal establish a payment plan to become current within six months.

Both the House and Senate rejected the amendment that Sen. McClellan and Del. Bourne stated “would have forced indigent tenants to pay their landlords back rent, attorneys fees and court costs in order to have the right to an appeal.”

Sen. McClellan noted that the twin bills “would have ensured every tenant equal access to the court system, regardless of income. This veto will lead to more Virginians being unfairly evicted because they cannot afford a bond.”

Del. Bourne added that the bills simply removed “the financial barrier keeping people from appealing evictions.”

Legal groups that support tenants also criticized the governor.

“Gov. Youngkin is allowing the unequal and unfair treatment of indigent tenants to continue,” Christie Marra, director of housing advocacy for the Virginia Poverty Law Center.

She said that in Virginia, indigent tenants in civil cases are almost always allowed to appeal adverse judgments to a higher court without posting a bond, noting that evictions are the biggest exception.

Ms. Marra stated that the legislature recognized the “logic and fairness of al- lowing indigent people in eviction cases to appeal without paying an appeal bond. Gov. Youngkin is signaling that he believes low-income people aren’t entitled to full access to justice in cases that can propel a family into long-term poverty.”

Amy Woolard, director of policy for the Legal Aid Justice Center, also decried the governor’s veto as serving “only to perpetuate structural inequality in both our housing and our court systems. We oppose the governor’s veto, which is emblematic of the ways we codify poverty in Virginia, the way we put a sticker price on justice.”