This is the query almost nobody serves and everybody eventually needs: a professionally installed system whose installer has disappeared. Innov8av specializes in adopting these orphaned systems across LA — this page explains what that means, which brands we take over, and how the process works.
Most premium smart home, security and lighting systems are dealer-locked by design. Control4, Savant, Lutron HomeWorks, Qolsys, 2GIG and Snap One gear can only be fully programmed by a certified dealer with the right software and account access. That's fine — until the company that installed yours goes out of business, gets acquired, moves, or just stops answering the phone.
When that happens your system becomes 'orphaned', and the symptoms are always similar: you can't add or change devices, remote access through the app has stopped working, scenes broke after a Wi-Fi or router change and no one will fix them, and no other company seems willing to touch a system they didn't install. Homeowners are often told the only option is to tear it all out and start over. That is almost never true.
Innov8av adopts these systems every month across Los Angeles. Because we hold the manufacturer certifications and the state licenses, we can legally and technically become responsible for a system another company built — and keep the equipment you already paid for.
We adopt orphaned systems across every major category. If your brand is here, we can almost certainly help — and if it isn't listed, ask anyway, because we service most major smart-home, security, lighting, AV and networking platforms.
Whether it's a whole-estate Control4 or Savant system, a Qolsys or 2GIG alarm on Alarm.com, a Luma or ClareVision camera system you can't view remotely, an Araknis or Pakedge network you're locked out of, or a home theater nobody documented — we can take it over.
Adoption is a defined process, not a gamble:
1. Free assessment. You tell us the brands and models (a photo of the equipment rack is perfect). We scope what's there and what access is needed.
2. We become your dealer of record. For Control4, Savant, Lutron, Alarm.com and Snap One systems, we transfer the project, account or OvrC/BakPak management into our certified dealer account — so you have a real, reachable company behind the system again.
3. Restore access and control. We recover installer codes, re-establish remote access (4Sight, the Alarm.com app, OvrC, ClareVision Plus, etc.), and get the app and remotes working.
4. Document and repair. We map the system, fix what's broken, re-program scenes, and hand you documentation the last company never gave you.
5. Ongoing support. You keep our number. Future changes, additions and service come from one accountable local team.
Adopting a system somebody else installed is not a normal service call, so we run it as a defined program rather than an open-ended hourly job. Four stages, fixed order, and you know the cost of each before it starts.
A technician documents what is actually installed: controller and processor model numbers off the rack, panel and keypad versions, network gear, camera and NVR models, what still works and what does not, and which cloud or monitoring accounts are live, lapsed or already sold to another company. You receive the written audit whether or not you continue with us. We quote takeover work from that audit — we do not quote a flat takeover price sight-unseen, because at that point anybody quoting you is guessing.
Automation platforms are dealer-gated by design: the programming lives in the manufacturer's software and the project file has to be reassigned before anyone new can work on it. We file the dealer-of-record transfer through the manufacturer's portal, request release of the project file, and recover or reset installer and admin credentials on the panel, controller, network gear and cameras. Where the previous company is still reachable, a single written request to release the project file saves everyone money, and we will draft it for you.
We repair what the audit flagged, restore remote app access, re-program the scenes and schedules that broke, and correct the underlying network problems that orphaned systems almost always carry — a swapped ISP gateway, a reset router, IP conflicts, dead PoE ports. Then we hand you a written as-built: equipment list, network map, account inventory and every admin credential.
You keep our number and our licence numbers. Future changes, additions, monitoring and service come from the same local team, not a call centre — and if you ever leave us, you leave with your credentials and documentation, exactly as you arrived.
Two questions are worth asking every company you consider for a takeover, because the wrong answers are how homeowners get orphaned a second time. Ours are answered here, up front:
Innov8av holds a California C-10 electrical contractor licence and Alarm Company Operator licence ACO 7755, has operated in Los Angeles County since 2016, is insured and bonded, is rated 5.0/5 across 22 verified reviews on Reviews.io and holds a BBB A+ rating. Both licences are publicly verifiable — check the contractor licence at the CSLB and the alarm licence through the California DCA licence search. Verify us before you book, not after.
Most integrators won't touch another company's system because they lack the certification, the licensing, or the appetite for the diagnostic work. Innov8av is built for exactly this. We hold certifications across Control4, Savant, Lutron and Snap One, plus a California C-10 electrical license and Alarm Company Operator license ACO 7755 — so the automation, the electrical, the low-voltage and the security integration are all handled legally under one roof.
That combination is rare, and it's the whole reason takeover works: we can legally rewire and re-terminate, legally monitor an alarm, and technically re-program the automation — the three things an orphaned system usually needs at once. Since 2016 we've served LA County homeowners left stranded by installers who moved on, and we're rated 5.0/5 by verified clients for exactly this kind of rescue work.
No. This is one of the most common calls we get. Innov8av adopts orphaned Control4, Savant, Lutron, Qolsys, 2GIG, Luma, ClareVision, DoorBird, Araknis and Pakedge systems across Los Angeles. We become your dealer of record, restore remote access and support the system going forward — usually without replacing your equipment.
Almost never. In the large majority of takeovers we keep your existing equipment, recover access, fix what's broken and re-program as needed. We'll only recommend replacing hardware that is genuinely failed or obsolete, and we quote reuse vs. replace line by line so you decide.
Yes. For dealer-locked platforms like Control4, Savant, Lutron, Alarm.com and Snap One, we transfer the project file or account into our certified dealer account. That's what makes us able to program, update and support a system another company originally built.
Usually yes. We recover installer codes and re-establish remote access — Control4 4Sight, the Alarm.com app, OvrC for Luma/Araknis, ClareVision Plus, and others — so you can control and monitor your home again.
Control4, Savant, Lutron (RadioRA 3, HomeWorks QS, Caseta, Ketra), Qolsys, 2GIG, Alarm.com, Ring, Nest, DoorBird, Luma, ClareVision, Araknis, Pakedge, and Denon/Marantz and JVC home theaters — plus most other major smart-home, security, lighting, AV and networking platforms. Ask us about anything not listed.
It starts with a free assessment. Simple account transfers and access recovery are quoted up front and are modest; larger re-programming, repair or documentation is itemized after we see the system. It is almost always a fraction of replacing the system — which is the whole point.
No. The hardware is not locked to the company that installed it. Control4, Savant, Lutron, Qolsys and Snap One systems are all built on dealer networks, which means the project file can be transferred to a new dealer of record and the system carries on. Replacement is a last resort for genuinely unsupportable hardware, and after our written audit you will know which category yours is in.
Your monitoring contract was most likely sold to another company rather than cancelled, and the first job is finding out to whom. We identify who currently holds the account, arrange the release, and re-register the panel's cellular communicator to our Alarm Company Operator account (ACO 7755) — usually without replacing the panel or a single sensor. Monitoring then runs month-to-month from $24.99 with no long-term contract.
The discovery and audit visit is quoted up front as a fixed price before we attend, sized to the system — a single-room controller and a whole-estate rack are not the same job. You keep the written audit either way. Repair and re-programming are itemised from that audit rather than estimated blind.
Four things speed everything up: any documentation, as-builts or photographs of the equipment rack; the model numbers off the controller, panel and network gear; whatever admin or cloud credentials you hold (controller, network, remote-access and monitoring portals); and whether the previous company's cloud or monitoring subscriptions are still active or about to lapse. Send us photographs and we will tell you what you are working with before anyone rolls a truck.
Most people who ring us about an abandoned system do not use words like “orphaned” or “dealer of record”. They say one of these:
Every one of those is a takeover, and every one is fixable. You are not stuck with the company that installed your system, and in most cases you are not stuck buying the system twice.
Knowing which of these happened to you tells us most of what we need before anyone drives out.
Our four-stage Orphaned System Takeover Program is set out in full above: a fixed-price discovery and audit visit, quoted before we attend; dealer-of-record transfer, project-file release and credential recovery; stabilise, document and hand you back control with a written as-built; then ongoing support. You keep the written audit whatever you decide to do next, including taking it to another company.
Send photographs of the equipment rack, the controller and the alarm panel to info@innov8av.com or (805) 517-4668 and we will tell you what you are working with before anyone rolls a truck. Licensed C-10 Electrical Contractor, CSLB #1043428, and Alarm Company Operator ACO 7755. English and Spanish.
Everything below is either verifiable with a public record or a commitment we put in writing on every proposal.
Verify the licences yourself: CSLB License Check and DCA/BSIS search.
No. This is one of the most common calls we get. Innov8av adopts orphaned Control4, Savant, Lutron, Qolsys, 2GIG, Luma, ClareVision, DoorBird, Araknis and Pakedge systems across Los Angeles. We become your dealer of record, restore remote access and support the system going forward — usually without replacing your equipment.
Almost never. In the large majority of takeovers we keep your existing equipment, recover access, fix what's broken and re-program as needed. We'll only recommend replacing hardware that is genuinely failed or obsolete, and we quote reuse vs. replace line by line so you decide.
Yes. For dealer-locked platforms like Control4, Savant, Lutron, Alarm.com and Snap One, we transfer the project file or account into our certified dealer account. That's what makes us able to program, update and support a system another company originally built.
Usually yes. We recover installer codes and re-establish remote access — Control4 4Sight, the Alarm.com app, OvrC for Luma/Araknis, ClareVision Plus, and others — so you can control and monitor your home again.
Control4, Savant, Lutron (RadioRA 3, HomeWorks QS, Caseta, Ketra), Qolsys, 2GIG, Alarm.com, Ring, Nest, DoorBird, Luma, ClareVision, Araknis, Pakedge, and Denon/Marantz and JVC home theaters — plus most other major smart-home, security, lighting, AV and networking platforms. Ask us about anything not listed.
It starts with a free assessment. Simple account transfers and access recovery are quoted up front and are modest; larger re-programming, repair or documentation is itemized after we see the system. It is almost always a fraction of replacing the system — which is the whole point.
No. The hardware is not locked to the company that installed it. Control4, Savant, Lutron, Qolsys and Snap One systems are all built on dealer networks, which means the project file can be transferred to a new dealer of record and the system carries on. Replacement is a last resort for genuinely unsupportable hardware, and after our written audit you will know which category yours is in.
Your monitoring contract was most likely sold to another company rather than cancelled, and the first job is finding out to whom. We identify who currently holds the account, arrange the release, and re-register the panel's cellular communicator to our Alarm Company Operator account (ACO 7755) — usually without replacing the panel or a single sensor. Monitoring then runs month-to-month from $24.99 with no long-term contract.
The discovery and audit visit is quoted up front as a fixed price before we attend, sized to the system — a single-room controller and a whole-estate rack are not the same job. You keep the written audit either way. Repair and re-programming are itemised from that audit rather than estimated blind.
Four things speed everything up: any documentation, as-builts or photographs of the equipment rack; the model numbers off the controller, panel and network gear; whatever admin or cloud credentials you hold (controller, network, remote-access and monitoring portals); and whether the previous company's cloud or monitoring subscriptions are still active or about to lapse. Send us photographs and we will tell you what you are working with before anyone rolls a truck.
Almost never. The hardware is not owned by the company that installed it. Control4, Savant, Lutron, Qolsys, Alarm.com and Snap One all run on dealer networks, which means the project file or account can be moved to a new dealer of record and the system carries on. What actually left with the old company was administrative access, not your equipment. We quote reuse against replace line by line after the audit, so you decide rather than being told.
Usually, yes. That prompt means the system is still bound to the previous company's dealer account. We recover installer codes and re-establish remote access across Control4 4Sight, the Alarm.com app, OvrC for Luma and Araknis, ClareVision Plus and the rest, then move the homeowner-facing accounts into your name rather than ours. When we finish, the credentials are yours in writing.
Usually not. A single failed PoE switch port, a dead power supply or a replaced internet router can knock every connected device offline at once and look like total failure. The most common single cause we see in Los Angeles is a swapped or factory-reset ISP gateway re-addressing the network. Diagnosis before replacement is the entire point of the audit visit — we would rather find the one failed component than sell you a new system.
Yes, in writing, as a standard part of every takeover. Administrative credentials and a written as-built showing what is installed, where it is, and how it is wired belong to the homeowner, not the integrator. Withholding them is how systems become orphaned in the first place. Ask any company you are considering to commit to that before you hire them.
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