N.C. Gen. Stat. § 105-306 — In whose name personal property is to be listed

(a) Taxable personal property shall be listed in the name of the owner on the day as of which property is to be listed for taxation, and it shall be the duty of the owner to list the property. (b) If personal property is listed in the name of a person other than the one in whose name it should be listed, and the name of the proper person is later ascertained, the abstract and tax records shall be corrected to list the property in the name in which it should have been listed. The corrected listing shall have the same force and effect as if the personal property had been listed in the name of the proper person in the first instance. (c) For purposes of this Subchapter: (1) The owner of the equity of redemption in personal property subject to a chattel mortgage shall be considered the owner of the property. (2) The vendee of personal property under a conditional bill of sale, or under any other sale contract through which title to the property is retained by the vender as security for the payment of the purchase price, shall be considered the owner of the property if he has possession of or the right to use the property. (3) Personal property owned by a corporation, partnership, or unincorporated association shall be listed in the name of the corporation, partnership, or unincorporated association. (4) Personal property held in connection with a sole proprietorship shall be listed in the name of the owner, and the name and address of the proprietorship shall be noted on the abstract. (5) Personal property of which a decedent died possessed, if not under the control of a personal representative, shall be listed in the names of the next of kin or devisees if known, but such property may be listed as property of "the next of kin" or "the devisees" of the decedent, without naming them, until they have given the assessor notice of their names and of the division of the estate. It shall be the duty of a personal representative having control of personal property to list it in the personal representative's fiduciary capacity, as required by subdivision (c)(6), below, until the personal representative is divested of control of the property. (6) Personal property, the title to which is held by a trustee, guardian, or other fiduciary, shall be listed by the fiduciary in his fiduciary capacity except as otherwise provided in this section. (7) If personal property is owned by two or more persons who are joint owners, each owner shall list the value of his interest. However, if the joint owners are husband and wife, the property owned jointly shall be listed on a single abstract in the names of both the husband and the wife. (8) If the person in whose name personal property should be listed is unknown, or if the ownership of the property is in dispute, the property shall be listed in the name of the person in possession of the property, or if there appears to be no person in possession, in the name of "unknown owner." When the name of the owner is later ascertained, the provisions of subsection (b), above, shall apply. (9) Personal property, owned under a time-sharing arrangement but managed by a homeowners association or other managing entity, shall be listed in the name of the managing entity. (1939, c. 310, s. 802; 1971, c. 806, s. 1; 1983, c. 785, s. 2; 1987, c. 45, s. 1; 2011-284, s. 71.)