Subcommittee restores 2022 compromise on appeal-bond waiver for indigent tenants, sends bill on with amendment
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Summary
The Civil Law Subcommittee amended and reported HB 221, which seeks to let indigent tenants seeking to appeal general district court eviction judgments request a bond waiver under a civil indigency standard; after stakeholder concerns the committee restored the bill to its 2022 compromise posture and reported it 9-1.
A House Civil Law Subcommittee moved on Friday to report House Bill 221, a measure aimed at widening access to appeals for low-income tenants who cannot afford the cash bond traditionally required to take eviction cases to circuit court.
Delegate Doug Hope, the bill’s patron, told the subcommittee the current code creates a gap that blocks indigent tenants — many facing eviction for nonpayment of rent — from appealing because they cannot post a bond equal to the judgment amount. “The goal here is simple. We want to ensure that the doors of our justice system are open to everyone,” Hope said.
The measure would allow tenants who meet a civil indigency standard to ask the circuit court to waive the appeal bond. Supporters — including the Virginia Poverty Law Center and the Legal Aid Justice Center — told the subcommittee that the requirement effectively bars many meritorious appeals.
“This is a huge problem for legal aid clients who are facing eviction,” Christy Marrow of the Virginia Poverty Law Center said in testimony, describing common scenarios in which tenants cannot post bond and therefore lack access to the appellate process.
Victoria Horrock of the Legal Aid Justice Center added that the change would make the standards governing bond waivers consistent with other civil-waiver processes and reduce an access-to-justice gap for low-income tenants.
Industry witnesses, including representatives of the Realtors and apartment-management associations, urged clarity and transparency in the indigency standard, arguing that definitions and qualifications vary between legal-aid providers and regions. Aaron Korman of the Realtors asked the committee to restore the earlier standard to ensure uniformity.
After questions from members, the subcommittee moved to restore the 2022 compromise language — preserving the earlier balance between access and safeguards — and to report the bill as amended. The motion to amend carried and the bill was reported to the full committee by a 9-1 roll-call vote.
The subcommittee’s action means HB 221 will go to the full committee with amended language; the patron and stakeholders expect additional vetting and possible further refinement during full-committee consideration.
