Hamilton East MP Renee Webb appeared in Magistrate's Court yesterday accused of failing to hand over more than $1,000 to a former tenant who had rented her home.

The PLP's Shadow Health Minister rented out a three bedroom apartment to Hugh Mason and two other tenants last April.

Mr. Mason claims he paid $1,100 as a deposit on the property -- but was only given $50 back when he left the house at the end of last year.

Mr. Mason told Magistrate Edward King that on November 30 he contacted Ms Webb and gave one month's notice to quit the apartment on Lusher Lane, Warwick.

And although he moved out well before the month was up, he was unable to return the keys to the apartment until January 7 because Ms Webb was off the Island until the middle of December and he then returned to the UK for a holiday.

Mr. Mason also said that he had spent his own money advertising for another tenant to take over the flat, even though he was not obliged to. When a new tenant was found, Mr. Mason agreed to leave some of his furniture in the flat because the new tenant had only just arrived on the Island.

But Ms Webb replied that Mr. Mason could have left the keys with one of the other tenants, both of whom were in regular contact with her.

And she also argued that the apartment had to be cleaned once Mr. Mason had left, a brand new carpet had been ruined by a stain that could not be cleaned out and the door to the living room had been "banged in''.

Ms Webb argued that $1,050 had been deducted from the deposit because of various expenses, including a cleaning bill and a $564 charge for the extra week that Mr. Mason was apparently living in the apartment from January 1.

Ms Webb agreed that she had intended to contact Mr. Mason to discuss the termination of the lease when she returned from an overseas trip in the middle of December.

"I indicated to Mr. Mason that I would speak to him upon my return just prior to Christmas but we never connected,'' she said.

"But that would not have stopped him from giving the keys to one of the other two tenants with whom I was in contact.

"The fact that I didn't connect with Mr. Mason doesn't take away from the fact that the unit was still in use by the tenants up until January 7.'' Mr. Mason countered that he had moved out of the property on December 23 and had only left some items of furniture and "bits and bobs'' as a favour to the new tenant.

He also claimed that he had spent two days cleaning the apartment before he moved out and that the door and carpet were both damaged before he moved in.

"The reason why I didn't give the keys back on December 31 was because I was off the island from the 26th and so I had to move out before then,'' he said.

"The arrangement was that Ms Webb was going to ring me when she returned to the Island because she wasn't sure when she was coming back.'' Magistrate Edward King adjourned the case until next Monday when he will give his judgment.