I doubt very seriously that any lender would settle a current loan for less than the debt owed outside of some sort of loan forgiveness or other type of similar program. While you can certainly ask, I think a better tactic might be to contact Chase and ask them if there is some way to lower the payment to a manageable level that still makes progress on the principal of the loan. Perhaps you could pay down a chunk of the loan and then consolidate it (maybe Chase or another private student loan lender would do this with one loan?) or refinance it otherwise using a personal loan or line of credit, to reduce the payment and interest rate.
If you let the loan default, you will do serious damage to your credit, which will not just impact your ability to get a car or home. Other current lenders might take adverse action (like reducing your credit limit or closing CC accounts), you may not qualify to rent certain apartments, and a potential employer might not hire you if they review your credit. It can also increase car insurance rates.
If your father co-signed and this loan is on his report, it will also impact him negatively. His bankruptcy will not remove this loan from his report (student loans cannot be discharged in bankrupty, so I believe he will still be responsible for it), and it could hamper his efforts to rebuild his credit when the slate is wiped clean.
You took on this debt, and the responsible thing to do is repay it, even if that is hard. Now's the time to start thinking about ways to increase income and reduce expenses so that you can get that done.
