Do you deny applicants.....?

[Matt Devincenzo]

I just responded to a post with regards to "income source" as being excluded as a reason for a rental denial, but it is rooted in a fear of "perceived" illegal discrimination.

I noticed that immediately the advice is to (essentially) avoid denying, and take other applications so you can hopefully approve someone else who is more qualified. I've heard this before in the past, and it always revolves around this "perceived" fair housing violation.

I personally think that processing applications that way is more likely to put you in hot water for a fair housing violation than anything else, here's why:

The way I look at it is you have shown that you believe them to be qualified since you never denied them, but chose to willingly ignore the qualified applicant in favor of someone who came along later. They might not have been qualified in reality, and yet you willingly chose not to deny them? If a tenant realized this and took "me" to court, I'd see very little strength in "my" argument before a judge that they weren't qualified but I never denied them. I'd rather justify my legitimate reason for denial, than defend against the "perceived" discriminatory practice I engaged in. 

Feel free to tell me I'm "Coo Coo for Cocoa puffs" or point out what I'm missing, but what does everybody think of the above reasoning?