DARDEN, J.
Joy Properties properly notes that this matter involves provisions of the Indiana Code, and the interpretation of statutory provisions is a question of law. See, e.g., Tooley v. State, 911 N.E.2d 721, 724 (Ind. Ct. App. 2009), trans. denied. Appellate review of a question of law is de novo. State Bd. of Tax Comm’rs v. Ispat Inland, Inc., 784 N.E.2d 477, 480 (Ind. 2003). As we consider this question of law in the matter before us, however, we are mindful of our Supreme Court’s admonition to “give a statute practical application by construing it in a way favoring public convenience and avoiding absurdity, hardship, and injustice.” Merritt v. State, 829 N.E.2d 472, 475 (Ind. 2005).
We begin by tracing the legislative history of the statute at issue, as well as the opinions applying the changing statute. The Indiana Code provides that after a tax sale, the county treasurer “shall apply” the amount paid to taxes, assessments, penalties, costs, and other delinquent property taxes; thereafter, any balance is to be placed in a tax sale surplus fund. Ind. Code § 6-1.1-24-7(a). The statute prior to July 1, 2001 further provided that the
(1) owner of record of the real property at the time the tax deed is issued who is divested of ownership by the issuance of the tax deed; or
(2) tax sale purchaser or purchaser’s assignee, upon redemption of the tract or item of real property;
(3) person with a substantial property interest of public record, as defined in section 1.9 of this chapter and as evidenced by the issuance of a tax deed to a tax sale purchaser:
(A) having a population of more than two hundred thousand (200,000) but less than four hundred thousand (400,000)
(B) having a consolidated city; or
(C) in which the county auditor and the county treasurer have an agreement under I.C. 6-1.1-25-4.7;
may file a verified claim for money which is deposited in the tax sale surplus fund. If the claim is approved by the county auditor and the county treasurer, the county auditor shall issue a warrant to the claimant for the amount due.
Burks, 802 N.E.2d at 898 (quoting former I.C. § 6-24-7(b)). Effective July 1, 2001, there was no subsection (3) – authorizing a claim by a person with a substantial property interest of public record. Id. at 899 (citing 200 Ind. Acts 139, Sec. 6). Thus, this statutory provision now only authorizes a claim by the
(1) owner of record of the real property at the time the tax deed is issued who is divested of ownership by the issuance of a tax deed; or
(2) tax sale purchaser or purchaser’s assignee, upon redemption of the tract or item of real property.
. . . .
I.C. § 6-1.1-24-7(b).
Burks expressly agreed with the holding of Brewer v. EMC Mortgage Corp., 743 N.E.2d 322, 326 (Ind. Ct. App. 2001), trans. denied, that former subsection (b)(3) provided “one route, but not the only route to recover a surplus,” and was “an administrative alternative to the remedy of a lawsuit.” Id. Thus, our Supreme Court concluded that the statute “does not purport to provide an exhaustive list of persons who may claim a tax sale surplus.” Burks, 802 N.E.2d at 899.
Subsequently, in CANA Investments, LLC v. Fansler, 832 N.E.2d 1103, 1105 (Ind. Ct. App. 2005), we noted that Brewer “held that a person with a substantial interest in real property sold at a tax sale is not limited to the administrative procedure set forth in Indiana Code Section 6-1.1-24-7 as a route for claiming a tax sale surplus,” a holding which had been “approved by our supreme court” in Burks. In CANA, we concluded that pursuant to Brewer and Burks,
only the owner, at the time of a tax sale, of real estate sold at a tax sale and the tax sale purchaser may use the administrative procedure provided by the statute to claim a tax sale surplus, but the administrative procedure is not the only avenue for making such a claim.
832 N.E.2d at 1107. Accordingly, persons “with an interest in the real estate, including those who did not own the real estate at the time of the tax sale or who did not purchase the real estate at the tax sale, may assert a claim for a tax sale surplus directly with the trial court.” Id. (emphasis added).
In CANA, National City Loan Services, Inc. “had a substantial interest in the real estate by virtue of its foreclosure judgment,” a judgment which “was a lien against the real estate subject to the tax sale.” Id. Joy Properties argues that such is a “glaring point of distinction from CANA to the case at bar.” Joy Properties’ Br. at 8. However, we decline its invitation to find that distinction dispositive here. Just as National City’s judgment lien in CANA was extinguished by the tax sale deed, here Beneficial’s mortgage lien against the Castle Drive real estate was extinguished by the tax sale deed, and here, too, the lien followed the proceeds of the sale, attached to the tax sale surplus, and has priority over the interest conveyed to Joy Properites. See CANA, 832 N.E.2d at 1107-08; see also, Moore v. Boxman, 144 Ind. App. 252, 245 N.E.2d 866, 869 (proceeds of a voluntary or involuntary sale of secured property take the place of that property, and the security interest attaches thereto).
The case law establishes that the statutory provision at issue provides an administrative procedure for disbursement of a tax sale surplus, but this procedure is not the only method for a determination of a substantial interest in the property. Alternatively, a claimant other than one identified in the statute may pursue disbursement of the tax sale surplus in the trial court. Having done so, we agree with Beneficial that the issue to be determined is which claimant has the more substantial interest in the real estate.
It is undisputed that Beneficial’s mortgage was duly recorded on April 21, 2003. It is further undisputed that the Ostens not only failed to pay their property taxes but also were in default on their mortgage, owing a balance that greatly exceeded the tax sale surplus held by the Auditor. Hence, Beneficial had a substantial interest in the real estate prior to the issuance of the tax sale deed. Joy Properties acquired its interest in the real estate by a quitclaim deed executed by the Ostens after they had failed to make mortgage payments to Beneficial for more than a year; and they had failed to redeem the real estate during the statutory one-year period following Allen County’s tax sale of real property due to the owners’ failure to pay real estate taxes. Thus, at the time of the conveyance to Joy Properties by the Ostens, the interest conveyed was subject to the issuance of a tax deed to Plymouth Park and to Beneficial’s recorded security interest.1 In other words, the interest conveyed to Joy Properties by the Ostens is significantly less substantial than and inferior to the interest of Beneficial.
Joy Properties reminds us of CANA’s statement that “National City’s lien against the real estate was extinguished by the execution of the tax deed.” 832 N.E.2d at 1107. As Beneficial properly notes, however, by law, both Beneficial’s mortgage lien and Joy Property’s interest in the real estate were extinguished by the tax deed. See I.C. § 6-1.1-25-4.6(g) (“tax deed . . . vests in the grantee an estate in fee simple absolute, free and clear of all liens and encumbrances created or suffered before or after the tax sale . . . .).
An action for declaratory judgment is generally equitable in nature, although it may take on the color of either equity or law, depending on the issue presented. 10 I.L.E., Declaratory Judgments § 15 (2005). Equity cannot acquiesce in a party’s pursuit of “unconscionable results,” Skendzel v. Marshall, 261 Ind. 226, 301 N.E.2d 641, 650 (1973), and as noted above, the Ostens had been provided notice of Beneficial’s claim to the tax sale surplus more than a month before they executed the quitclaim deed to Joy Properties. Further, equity looks to substance rather than form, 12 I.L.E., Equity § 17 (2009), and equity seeks the avoidance of a windfall, Neu v. Gibson, 928 N.E.2d 556, 560 (Ind. 2010).
We find that the facts here establish that Beneficial has a more substantial interest in the real estate, and that equity requires disbursement of the tax surplus funds to Beneficial. Therefore, the trial court erred in ordering disbursement to Joy Properties and we reverse.
NAJAM, J., and BAILEY, J., concur.