Carmel auto finance firm calling it quits after 33 years, terminating 127 employees

Carmel-based auto finance company Coastal Credit LLC plans to end operations and terminate all 127 of its employees by the middle of this year, the company said in a letter to the state.

In a notice to the Indiana Department of Workforce Development dated March 23, the company did not cite a reason for the closure of its corporate headquarters at 10333 N. Meridian St.

The 33-year-old firm said it “made the difficult decision to permanently wind down operations.” Coastal Credit said it anticipated terminations to begin May 26 or within two weeks afterward.

The company had already announced that it was closing its office through April 7 because of the coronavirus pandemic, but it did not mention the pandemic as a factor in its permanent closure.

A company official did not respond to a phone message left Monday afternoon.

Coastal Credit acquires and services subprime automobile loans. Those accounts will be serviced by Los Angeles-based Westlake Portfolio Management LLC starting Thursday, the company said on its web site.

Among the employees losing their jobs are 33 loan collectors and about a dozen IT workers.

Founded in Virginia Beach, Virginia, in 1987, Coastal Credit was acquired by former Indianapolis-based financial holding company White River Capital Inc. for $50 million in 2006.

White River and Coastal Capital were acquired by Parthenon Capital Partners, a private equity firm, in 2013 for $79.5 million.

Coastal Credit moved its corporate headquarters from Virginia Beach to Carmel in 2015 after a shakeup of key management, including the hiring of CEO Martin McFarland, co-founder and former president of Indianapolis-based Dealer Services Corp.