The recommendation would encourage the Lender to maximise the return, but without taking undue risks or less than satisfactory efforts.

The Lender has the right to sell the mortgage property with or without possession if the term is included in the mortgage deed. In Michael v Miller , Parker LJ shed commented on the extent of the a Lender’s autonomy when exercising their power of sale; ‘ an exercise of informed judgement on the part of the mortgagee, in respect of which there can, almost by definition, be no absolute requirements’.
Nonetheless, amongst the duties a Lender must discharge in relation to sale , Lenders have a duty to take reasonable care to obtain the best price even if they choose to bid or purchase the property with the purpose of selling it or retaining it .
That duty extends to connected party transactions. In a sale that gives rise to a risk of a conflict of interest and duty, the mortgagee has the burden of proof to show that it has discharged its duties.
In Alpstream AG an others v PK Airfinance and Another the borrowers alleged that the Lenders had breached their duty by failing to get the true market value for the collateral and since the lenders were selling to themselves to show that it complied with its duty. It was also alleged that they failed to act in good faith and for proper purposes.
In any event if the lender breached its duty by not obtaining the best price at the point of sale, then the lender must rectify the shortcomings by amending the mortgages accounts to reflect a reasonably obtained amount that should have been obtained on sale.
Thus Lenders who intend to buy the mortgaged property should ensure that they properly expose the property to the market place in an attempt to obtain the best price. To discharge their duty to market the property, Lenders should consider the prevalent sale practices in the market place best suited to the mortgage property they wish to sell.
Clarke LJ also went on to comment that although it is not a duty, a lender should consider a buyer’s perception in choosing how to conduct the sale; for instance a sale by auction may be perceived as a quick sale is intended and an expectation for the property to be heavily discounted. Lenders should try to avoid creating such perceptions.
Where the borrower alleges that the property is sold at an undervalue; Alpstream is an illustration that the court will be looking for the cause of the sale price. The court will consider all the circumstances of the case including the dynamics of the market, the perceptions the lender caused potential buyers to have, the effect of those perceptions on the sale price, evidence that the lender discharged his duty to act in good faith and a