Kissimmee pro tem mayor denies squatting in dead woman's home

KISSIMMEE, Fla. — 9 Investigates uncovered a Kissimmee commissioner and candidate for the state House living in the home of a woman who has been dead since 2012.

Mayor pro tem Sara Shaw said the woman who lived there did not have a will that Shaw knew of, and when she died, Shaw’s boyfriend looked at securing the home under the adverse possession law.

“I don’t live there now,” Shaw said.

“But you did live there, right?” asked Channel 9 reporter Jeff Levkulich.

“Yes, I did live there,” Shaw said.

She would not say why she does not live at the home now, but said some of her belongings are still at the home and she occasionally visits.

Meanwhile, her boyfriend, Peter Sendtko, still lives there.

“There is no squatting issue. There is no squatting involved. Everything that Pete did is completely legal,” said Shaw.

She said Sendtko used to help the elderly woman out and when the woman died, she and Sendtko paid the unpaid taxes and spent thousands to fix up the home.

In 2014, Sendtko filed paperwork for adverse possession.

“We were the only family that she had, and we did our best to take care of her. She asked Pete, ‘When I’m gone, I want you to take care of my stuff,’ and he would say, ‘Carol, you are going to live forever,’” said Shaw.

One thing Shaw did not discuss with Channel 9 is the money being automatically withdrawn from the dead woman’s account to pay for the utilities.

“I’m not allowed to talk about that issue,” she said.

“People might think it’s stealing,” Levkulich said.

“It wasn’t, but I’m not allowed to talk about that issue,” said Shaw.

Because of the adverse possession law, if nobody fights it, Sendtko would own the home.

Cox Media Group