Is it legal to reject an applicant due to a late move-in date?

[Meher Bandela]

Hi,

I'm a first-time landlord in NJ. I advertised my rental property as available from April 1. I accepted an application from a prospective tenant who, after submitting the application and paying for the credit history and background checks, told me that the earliest move-in they can do is April 12. We haven't signed a lease yet. I have a couple of questions now:

1) If another qualified applicant shows up and is willing to move-in on April 1, am I allowed to reject the first applicant? If I go ahead with the first applicant, I lose nearly $1000 in rent for the April 1 to 12 period.

2) If I reject the first applicant for this reason, am I expected to reimburse them for the credit and background checks? In general, if I'm processing 4 applicants in parallel, and they're all qualified in terms of income and references, am I obligated to return/reimburse the credit and background check fees for all the applicants that I end up rejecting?

Thanks for helping!