Landlords left waiting months for hundreds owed in unpaid rent are being pushed to the front of the Tenancy Tribunal queue.In a new pilot, the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment was prioritising cases where the landlord - or renter - wanted to terminate the tenancy for rent arrears.Severe health and safety claims would also be prioritised in the three-month pilot beginning in August.If you're a renter who has had a severe health and safety issue go to the Tribunal, share your stories with us at: Sammy.Carter@rnz.co.nzBut advocates said this wasn't fair to renters who were facing long delays to get money back from bond refunds.The government had made several changes to tenancy law in the past few years, notably no cause evictions, ending a periodic tenancy with no reason with 90 days' notice.Three month waitlist on rent arrearsRent arrears could take up to three months to be seen by Tenancy Services, and made up over 60 percent of applications last year.Darryl Fisher of Go Property Rentals in Waikato was one of many investors facing these wait times."Because the tribunal's so clogged up, it's just taking way too long," Fisher said."Rent arrears seem to be at the bottom of the pile."Under the pilot, top priority would still be given to cases of antisocial behaviour, assault, and abandonment.Fisher said long wait times meant thousands of dollars in debt piled up, which was devastating for landlords as well as tenants."If we can shortcut that, it's got to be good for the industry."Documents released under the Official Information Act showed the average wait time for a first hearing for any tenancy case was 48 days, three days more than in 2023.Meanwhile, the average wait time from mediation to final outcome was 20 days - an increase on the typical 15-day wait in 2023.New Zealand Property Federation's Matt Ball said they had been pushing for the change for years.He said unpaid rent was a huge stress on landlords with mortgages to pay and processing cases faster would provide welcome relief."The proof of the pudding is in the eating so we'll have to see how it works ... we hope it works," Ball said.What about renters?Renters United president Luke Somervell said Tenancy Services were "favouring landlords getting their money back over renters getting their money back".Last month, the agency launched an online programme to manage bonds replacing a previous manual process.However, renters were forced to contact the agency directly to check on progress, and were struggling to get through the tribunal's phone systems which had capped incoming calls.Somervell said he was concerned the pilot would cause a "feeding frenzy" of landlords jumping at the chance to push through rent arrears."They're basically setting themselves up as a debt collection agency for landlords."He said the government should be more worried about why people couldn't pay their rent, rather than chasing them for it.Somervell said the pilot was another sign of the government's interest in landlords and property investors, while traditionally lower-demographic renters were pushed to the bottom."[They're] trying to shake them down out of their money - it's like reverse Robin Hood," Somervell said.He said Tenancy Services needed to look at the pilot and consider whether it was fairly prioritising both parties.But MBIE head of tenancy Kat Watson said prioritising rent arrears also reduced harm for tenants."It's not good for anyone to get into a significant amount of debt, particularly if you're waiting for a tribunal to resolve it," Watson said.She said the agency was focused on delivering fast bond refunds and said a good working relationship and mediation between tenants and landlords was the first step to avoid settling disputes via the tribunal.Watson said the success of the pilot - at the end of October - would inform future decisions about how tenancy disputes were managed and prioritised.