Refusing showings / application from prospective tenants

[Alex Casperson]

Hello,

I am a first time landlord in Massachusetts trying to fill my first vacancy and have found myself with an influx of applications. I had my first showing today and found a great tenant who meets all my requirements and is eager to move in. I would love to accept them as soon as possible, as I know they are considering other options.

However, I have scheduled showings with and received applications from a number of other tenants. Would I be violating any sort of FHA rule by cancelling future showings due to the vacancy being filled?

Would an adverse action letter be required for each of these potential tenants who has requested a showing or submitted an application (I did not invite anyone else to apply yet, but some have applied immediately upon seeing the listing without any pre-screening).

Any insights would be very much appreciated.

[Michael Noto]

What @Nathan Gesner said is correct regarding adverse action letters. Only needed if you deny an applicant, which you aren't doing in this case. 

What we do is once the accepted applicant gives a deposit we send a once sentence email to anyone else to applied that says "Thank you for your interest in the apartment at [address], the landlord has gone with a different applicant." Short and sweet and move on.

Then text or email anyone else who you had an appointment with letting them know the apartment has been filled and you are cancelling their appointment. You don't owe them anything more than that.