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Where amount is disputed, lodgment may be made with clerk of the peace, &c.
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61. It shall be lawful for any defendant in a civil bill ejectment for nonpayment of rent disputing the amount of rent claimed to be due, at any time not later than three days before the day on which he is required to appear, to deposit with the clerk of the peace of the county a sum of money for rent, together with the sum mentioned in said civil bill process for costs; for which deposit on payment of the fee of one shilling and sixpence, the clerk of the peace shall give the defendant a certificate of the lodgment and duplicate, which duplicate shall be delivered to or left at the abode of the plaintiff, his agent, receiver, or attorney in the cause, not later than the second day before the day on which the defendant is required to appear; and in case the said plaintiff, or his attorney in the cause, shall receive such deposit from the clerk of the peace (which the clerk of the peace is hereby required to pay over to the plaintiff or his attorney, on demand), such payment shall be in full discharge of the rent and costs claimed by the said civil bill; but in case the said plaintiff, after delivery of such certificate, shall not accept of the said deposit on or before the day next previous to the day on which the defendant is required to appear, exclusive of any Sunday, and it shall appear at the hearing of such civil bill that no greater sum was due for rent at the time of the service of such process than the sum so deposited as aforesaid, and that such duplicate was delivered as aforesaid, it shall be lawful for the chairman to dismiss the said civil bill, with costs of the proceedings subsequent to the delivery of the said duplicate, and the plaintiff shall be entitled to the amount so deposited, reduced by the amount of such costs; and if it shall appear that any greater sum was due than the sum deposited, it shall be lawful for the said chairman to ascertain the amount of rent actually due at the time of the service of the summons in ejectment, and the sum so deposited shall be returned to the defendant, unless the plaintiff shall elect to take the same in lieu of the possession, in which case the plaintiff shall be entitled to receive the same in payment of his rent, and to have a decree for his costs or for the balance of his rent and costs.
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