Application Fees - advice on how to process them

[Nancy DeSocio]

Hi All,

I have my first showing tomorrow for a vacant apartment, and it's a group showing. My question is with regards to application fees. If I get a bunch of people who apply (fingers crossed!), I assume some might get eliminated just from the basics on the form (i.e. lack of employment, landlord references, etc), but for all those who pass the initial qualifications, do you process background checks on all of them and then select the best candidate? Or do people process a couple at a time until you have a qualified candidate and then mail back the fee to those who didn't get processed? I feel bad taking $35 from each person when there is only one vacant unit to fill, but mailing back checks seems like a hassle as well. I'd appreciate feedback from those with some experience in this area!