Clears 90 bucks, put with lease as housing... (10)

I believe the answer is:

exculpates

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'clears' is the definition.
('exculpate' can be a synonym of 'clear')

'90 bucks put with lease as housing' is the wordplay.
I cannot really see how this works, but
'90' could be 'xc' (roman numeral) and 'xc' is found in the answer.
This may be the basis of clue (or it may be nonsense).

Can you help me to learn more?

I've seen this clue in the Sydney Morning Herald.

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