RALEIGH - Disgraced former House Speaker Jim Black has been unable to sell real estate at a fair market value because potential buyers know he's under a court-ordered deadline to pay a $1 million fine, his attorney argues in court papers filed Friday.

The argument persuaded Judge Donald Stephens of Wake Superior Court to give Black seven more months to pay the $1 million.

Black, 72, a Democrat from Matthews, was ordered to pay the fine in July following his conviction on state charges of bribery and obstruction of justice. A sweeping corruption inquiry ended his reign as one of North Carolina's most powerful politicians.

Black is in federal prison in Pennsylvania for a separate corruption conviction related to illegal payments he accepted from campaign contributors, mostly in cash handed over in men's bathrooms. He is due to be released in 2012.

The $1 million fine -- an unprecedented amount for a North Carolina corruption case -- was due Dec. 10. Black, an optometrist, tried unsuccessfully to sell land in Mecklenburg County to raise the money.

"Everybody knew that Dr. Black had to come up with a lot of money in a short period of time, and we thought that some of the buyers were trying to get a better bargain because of that," said his attorney, Whit Powell.

Prosecutors, Stephens and other interested parties agreed to a delay until July 1, 2008, with one condition: Black had to put up property as a guarantee. He chose the Charlotte office of his former optometry practice, valued for tax purposes at $1.2 million, because it would cover the full fine, Powell said.

In an order accepting the delay, Stephens wrote that the property could be sold at foreclosure if needed.

The deal could ensure that Black avoids time in a state prison after his federal term ends, a possibility Stephens raised in July, depending on whether Black pays.

Joe Sinsheimer, a longtime Democratic critic of Black's, called the delay "another example of his contempt for state officials and his belief that he deserves special treatment."