Section 540:13-c Discretionary Stay Dependent on Payment of Rent.
I. If the defendant defaults, or confesses judgment, or if on trial the court rules that the landlord has sustained his complaint, judgment shall be rendered that the landlord recover possession of the premises and costs. A writ of possession shall be issued, provided that, the court may order the tenant shall not be dispossessed until a date not later than 3 months from such default, confession of judgment, or ruling of the court, provided the court decides that under all the circumstances justice requires such stay, based on the reasonableness and good faith of the parties in their respective reports, complaints, demands, and evidence. In the event of any such stay of dispossession, the tenant shall pay the landlord weekly in advance the weekly former rent, or the proportional weekly part of the former rent if rent was payable less often than weekly, and on default of any such advance weekly payment a writ of possession shall be issued and the sheriff shall evict the tenant as soon as possible.
II. Nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibit the parties in a case of nonpayment of rent from agreeing that, in spite of judgment for the plaintiff, a writ of possession shall not be issued, if the defendant makes payments in accordance with a schedule designated in the agreement. However, if such payments are not made when due, a writ of possession shall be issued upon request of the plaintiff.
Source. 1972, 26:1. 1988, 100:3. 1992, 284:88, eff. Jan. 1, 1993.