"Getting approved" is not a valid criteria for rejection. 

This tells me that you wasted unnecessary time on this applicant.As a former property manager, I learned that having strict criteria was great for not only avoiding any fair housing issues, but it also allowed me to easily and quickly reject bad applicants.It's perfectly legal to have as one of your criteria that all tenants have tax returns showing they can afford the unit. 

Automatic Rejection: Your application will be automatically rejected for any of the following:a) Eviction by a prior landlord in the last 24 months;b) Outstanding debt or unpaid damages to a previous landlord;c) Undisclosed criminal record, felony or misdemeanor;d) Being registered as a sex offender;e) Conviction of possession or distribution of a controlled substance;f) Conviction of spousal abuse or violent crime;g) Currently pending the outcome of a felony or misdemeanor charge;h) Bankruptcy in the past 5 years that has not been discharged/released;i) Invalid social security number;j) Outstanding federal tax lien, the repayment terms for which are not current;k) False information on your application;l) Incomplete application, including applicant signature on all pages of the application and this form;m) Failure to pay the application fee at the time of application submittal.

He got rejected at every stage ! 

I rejected one applicant who ended up on the local news a year later after stories of them moving in, never paying rent and trashing multiple landlords houses in town.

Are you rejecting someone because they are a danger to your investment or to others?

I would reject her without giving it a second thought.

While I consider the history of long term revolving and installment accounts are the most important, I wouldn't reject a tenant for a bruised credit taking in consideration the entire picture.   

If you do not have a applicant that can qualify by their own standing then reject them immediately.

What I noticed is that they looked for reasons to accept an applicant, i looked for reasons to reject them.