How long must electric service be terminated before a property is considered abandoned?

In Alabama, a property is considered abandoned if electric service has been terminated for a continuous period of seven consecutive days. This timeframe is significant as it helps establish the intent to abandon the property, which can be important for property management and legal considerations.

The choice of seven consecutive days reflects a balance between ensuring that the property is not just temporarily unoccupied for maintenance or other legitimate reasons, while also providing a reasonable period that acknowledges that some outages may occur due to unforeseen circumstances. A shorter timeframe might not accurately capture situations where owners are temporarily away, while a longer duration could lead to unnecessary classifications of abandonment for properties that are simply in transition.