Inheriting tenants with pets in violation of lease + deposit Q's

[David Cha]

Hey all,

I am in the process of buying a triplex to househack and am inheriting 2 tenants that have pets in clear violation of the lease. It seems like the last PM/landlord was an absentee slumlord and didn't do repairs, but also didn't raise the rent or check in on the property. Both tenants are on 12 month leases which I am inheriting as well, 5+7 months left. I asked one of the tenants about the pet and she begged me not to make her get rid of the pet. 

I'm not some kind of dog hater (I'm bringing my dog) and if the former owner/PM hasn't done anything to them up until this point, is there some kind of implied acquiescence? Like, pet squatting? I would prefer to ride out their leases or encourage them to leave early as I would like to get the units upgraded and increase rents. I don't particularly want any eviction type issues with COVID going on. 

What is the most diplomatic way to handle this? How would you go about the refund of the security deposit for inherited tenants? I have no idea what the condition of the units were when they moved in and those deposits were taken without considering pets. I don't particularly want to fight with someone about their security deposit either. Thoughts?