Tenant Screening: What if gut reaction is "no" but credit, etc. checks out?

[Baley Whary]

I've read the ultimate guide to tenant screening and I've also been reading on the forums and another book, and I hear people say, "look at the car the prospective tenant drives" or "get a feel for how they present themselves," but at the same time, the only way to actually disqualify a tenant, without the chance of a discrimination suit, is to disqualify them based on your renting standards (3X income, credit score, background check, etc.). So my question is, what if I just really don't want to rent to someone, based on their attitude, or the trashiness of their car, or whatever? Otherwise, why does everyone say "listen to your gut"? I don't have a specific example, but this is just a question that has come up. I'm super new at this and doing as much research as possible before situations arise. Thanks in advance!

[JD Martin]

If you really don't want to rent to someone, and it is based on something outside of the protected classes (race, religion, national origin, etc), you simply turn them down. Ethically, if you already know you would rather not rent to them, you dissuade them from moving forward on a paid rental application/credit check. You can only be successfully sued for discrimination if the basis of the discrimination is on a protected class. You can discriminate against smokers, University of Alabama fans, overweight people, Yankees, liberals, conservatives, and Bigger Pockets members, so long as it isn't cover for discriminating against a protected class. For example, you could have someone go through the process, pass all the check points, and when they show up to sign the lease, you see that they are smoking a cigar and you say "I'm sorry, but I don't rent to smokers". They have no recourse. They could still sue you (you can sue anyone for anything), but they will not be successful. There are LLs on this board who do not rent to smokers, even if they say they will only smoke outside.

Aside from that, within boundaries, you can make the terms (amount of rent, length of lease, etc) so onerous that the person will be dissuaded from following through on the application. 

I am not saying you should do any of these things, but if you really decide you don't want to rent to someone because you think they are a slob, or a snob, you don't have to rent to them.