Should I refund credit/background check fees due to mistake?

[Wade Penner]

I would normally vet the basics (rental history, income, etc.) prior to actually having applicants pay and run credit and background checks (these would be last step).  However, I made the mistake of forgetting to tell a couple applicants to disregard the credit/background check portion of the application (through Cozy), and they both completed them ($40 per applicant).  

Both are nearly qualified (a couple more prior landlords to call tomorrow), however I can only proceed with one.  They're both excited about the unit based on my conversations with them, however I will need to tell one of them they did not get the unit.

Should I refund the losing party their credit/background fee since I forgot to tell them not to request the checks, or is that somewhat standard that they might lose out on that money? 

[Polo Vazquez]

You don't have to refund them the money. When they pay they know there is a chance that they won't get accepted. It's pretty standard practice. However, I will say that if there is any application that has been submitted and it looks like a strong application you should probably let people know before they submit another application. I'm pretty sure you don't have to do this but I myself think is morally wrong. In your case it seems they both kinda did it at the same time so there wasn't much you could do.