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That's not rejecting (all) qualified tenants though so much as they are merely using some kind of algorithm to pick one of the many prospective qualified tenant

That's not rejecting (all) qualified tenants though so much as they are merely using some kind of algorithm to pick one of the many prospective qualified tenants. They can only choose one anyway, and FIFO is not necessarily the best strategy. So a better way to phrase the question would be "Why would they ever say no to all qualified prospective tenants?"

unishark 5y ago
In California my understanding is they are required to accept the first qualified tenant due to anti-discrimination laws. I thought NY was similar in that regard (and hence the income=3*rent or whatever the popular advertised rules are there).
- crazygringo 5y ago
  That's been my experience as well, in practice (I don't if there's a legal reason). Yes they'll sometimes pick the most qualified applicant, but only if you submit your application the same day or same weekend, which is often the case with open houses. It really depends on the landlord however -- for a lot, it's literally the first qualified person to apply, which is why you want to be the first person to the open house and have all your documents ready to apply on the spot, since it might be gone 30 minutes later.