New landlord with inherited tenants - what to do?

[Tracey G.]

We just bought a a house last month in a college town that has three young 20's tenants. They will be our tenants until next May 31, when their lease ends. (This is about two hours away where our son goes to school.) Went to do some maintenance yesterday and saw some issues:

They have acquired a cat, against the terms of the lease. We are willing to allow them to keep it but want additional rent and security. However, they already have the full allowed amount of security (one month) on deposit. How can we get additional security if it will exceed the state (Delaware) limit? Go with a non-refundable app fee instead? Any other pet add-on advice is appreciated.

They are smoking on the patio, also expressly against the lease terms.

They are into organic gardening, which is fine, but has resulting in a bit of a swarm of fruit flies in the dining area. Definitely a new problem, they weren't there when we purchased or the last time we went back.

Looking for advice on how to handle these issues. My contact is one of the tenants and we generally email. Should I email her, send the three of them a letter, get them on a phone call to discuss and then send a letter to follow up? They are generally good tenants and we do not want to get into an eviction situation.

Thanks for any advice.