If two people responded to an ad to rent a house or apartment...

...and the queries arrived at the same time it would be the landlord's decision which to rent to, correct? I plan to write a short story about two people playing Xanatos Speed Chess over an apartment, but obviously I want to avoid Did Not Do The Research. Thank you, and I apologize if there's another thread or forum somewhere where this would be better suited.

I think the landlord can rent to the second person even if they didn't submit at the same time. Most landlords don't rent to the first applicant right away, at least not the decent landlords. IME they wait a little bit to do background checks and make sure the person can pay the rent. If another person shows up in that time and the landlord likes them better, then the second person could get the rent.

Yeah.

I think in all honesty, this would've been better suited for Random Questions or the General Writer's Block thread.

Thank you. I just wanted to make sure.

Yeah, I started thinking about the Writer's Block thread right after I posted. Well, live and learn.