I can not think of a scenario where a home would not have an electric meter.  The power company would probably very much want to know about anyone that had a house without one----and the house had electricity.  As an inspector I give every utility company seal a little tug to make sure that it has not been tampered with.  A cut seal could indicate work done on the electrical system without permits or may just mean the work never received its final inspection or the power company never got called to re-seal the meter.  For example, the seal would be broken so that the meter could be removed to replace the service panel.  I have found lots of broken seals.  These broken seals almost always meant associated poor electrical work throughout the homes.  Here are a few pictures of broken seals.

      I especially like the one on the right that was "melted" to release the wire.  While finding this condition would likely warrant further evaluation of the home's electrical system by a licensed electrical contractor, the power company is generally willing to reinstall the seal.  Here is a missing seal (and missing a whole lot of other stuff as well).  Located on a busy sidewalk in a small town in Mexico, these electrical connections were exposed and within easy reach of children and everyone else.

     On a recent inspection I found where the meter seal was broken and the old style 60 amp fused panel had been replaced with a 200 amp panel (with a 200 amp disconnect breaker) without increasing the size of the wires to the panel, without replacing the meter, and without replacing the conduit from the panel to the Utility Company connections above the roof.  Without getting overly technical, this creates a situation where the load capability of the electrical panel is considerably higher than the rating of the wires running from the utility connections to the service panel----creating a fire hazard due to possible overheating of the enclosed wires.  Essentially the wire becomes the fuse.

Charles Buell