If the plaintiff elects to relinquish the land as before provided, the defendant shall thenceforth hold all the estate which the plaintiff had therein at the commencement of the action, if he pays said value thereof in three equal instalments on or before the expiration of one, two and three years, respectively, from the time when said election was entered on the record, with interest therefrom on the amount unpaid.
Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 237, § 33