N.C. Gen. Stat. § 1-246

No assignment of judgment shall be valid at law to pass any property as against creditors or purchasers for a valuable consideration from the donor, bargainor, or assignor, but from the entry of such assignment on the margin of the judgment docket opposite the said judgment, signed by the owner of said judgment, or his attorney under power of attorney or his attorney of record, and witnessed by the clerk or the deputy clerk of the superior court of the county in which said judgment is docketed: Provided, that when an assignment of judgment is duly executed by the owner or owners of the judgment and recorded in the office of the clerk of the superior court of the county in which the judgment is docketed and a specific reference thereto is made on the margin of the judgment docket opposite the judgment to be assigned, it shall operate as a complete and valid transfer and assignment of the judgment.