N.C. Gen. Stat. § 45-44
A mortgage or deed of trust held by an insurance company, bank, building and loan association, or other lending institution shall be deemed, for the purposes of any regulatory statute applicable to such institutions, to be a first lien on the property despite the existence of prior mortgages or other liens on the same property in all cases where sufficient funds for the discharge of such prior mortgages or other liens shall have been deposited with such lending institution in trust solely for such purpose. Such funds may be deposited either in cash or in obligations of the State of North Carolina or of the United States maturing in sufficient amount on or before the date or dates that the indebtedness secured by such prior mortgages or other liens is to be paid.
N.C. Gen. Stat. § 45-44