They'd have to prove that the reason you denied them was for a protected reason, and unless you have a history that can be proven of rejecting a certain type of applicant, or you blatantly told them you don't rent to "their kind" and they recorded it on their phone, it would be hard to prove.So, as long as the reason for denying them is never because they have a kid or too many kids or the color of their skin isn't like yours or they have a service dog or whatever, but the reason is because they didn't fill out their application completely or they were rude or smelled of cigarette smoke and you don't allow it, or they didn't show up on time or give you documents when they said they would - you're fine.

., will not serve you well as far as you losing money in the real world.It's not about tough love, but about someone honestly caring about you losing money, who has absolutely zero skin in the game.

@Steve Babiak Brandon just said " An application fee is important so people have some skin in the game".

I have no skin in your game whatsoever.

I would see if they would put that kind of skin the game before I committed to another showing. 

I am a retired property manager with zero skin in this game, so I'm not trying to sell you anything.  

Heck take them to the car wash first if you want to, no skin off my back.

Do open houses.....time saver and multiple people at the same time drive competitionBe realist on your price....shop you are like you are a tenant and only compare things that really match..... not just bedroom and bath numbers....need to look at age of unit. location, condition.....when we have skin in the game we tend to get emotional about what the place is worth... the market drives that....not your emotional connectionDO NO BE DESPERATE..... wait for a good candidate, not just A candidate.... vacancy is scary but a bad tenant is a nightmare....

And there are other ways to skin a cat. 

A few of these states offer some realistic price ranges for even multifamily 2-4 unit homes under $200K.You do not need a lot of skin in the game just 15% down will get you into any 2-4 unit.