Senator, Mac Harb has resigned from the Liberal caucus after an independent audit found he’d improperly claimed $51,500 in Senate housing allowances.

He says he will fight the finding in court and has chosen to leave the caucus until the matter is settled.

Harb is one of three senators ordered to repay the improperly collected allowances.

A senator whose primary residence is more than 100 km outside the national capital region is entitled to collect up to $22,000 a year to compensate for maintaining a secondary residence in Ottawa.

Harb, who represented an Ottawa riding as an MP and owns several properties in the city, had claimed a bungalow near Pembroke, Ont., as his primary residence.

The audit found Harb spent only 10 per cent of this time at the bungalow during the 549-day period reviewed by auditors.