Any Advice Would Be Welcomed

My husband and I are in a bad situation, and are considering bankruptcy. I see many threads here that strongly advise against it, but I really don't know of any other way. If anyone can offer some or a specific alternative, I'd appreciate it. Any advice would be much appreciated.

3 years ago, when we barely 21, we made a bad decision- we got into a large mobile home and financed the loan for 67,000 dollars, on a 30 year note, at 12.9% interest. It pains me to admit how stupid we were, but we were 'had'. We were told that my father could co-sign, since we had no credit yet, and that my husband would be the primary and would be building credit while we paid. We were told that in 2 years, when that credit had built up, we could refinance the home in our name only, and get Daddy's name off.

Those were flat out lies- in fact, we recently discovered the mobile home dealer totally tricked us, and that the application they sent to the finance company actually listed my father as primary and my 21 year old husband as co-signer. We also have found that no one, and I mean no one will refinance our mobile home.

Of course, no one told us (but we should have done our homework and researched it, I realize) that mobile homes, esp those that are not on a note with land, depreciate. Rapidly. So now we have a mobile home that is probably worth half of the note, for 67,000. It's depreciated on it's own, and also is falling apart due to shoddy construction. We have paid only interest in the last 3 years, so the principal has not gone down a cent. Now, my husband and I never would have qualified for a payment this large (800 a month, not including the land payment)- we ourselves knew we couldn't pay that much but got the house in a kind of joint deal with my sister- who was supposed to pay three hundred a month in rent. She was a single Mom, and we were trying to help her and her child out. The three hundred a month would cover food, utilities and childcare (by me). But anyway, you can see where this is going? She gave up her baby and bailed in less than 6 months. We were heartbroken AND in serious trouble.

We have been making payments on this, payments that are over half of my husband's monthly income. Yes, over half of what he makes a month goes to just the house payment. Some months, food is very scarce near the end of the month. I cannot find work, due to the fact that we live in the middle o nowhere- he commutes 80 miles a day in an old car that barely runs. And we only have the one car, and he works shift work and over time. So I can't get a job around here, as there aren't any, and can't commute with no car. And no, there are no busses way out here.

So- to summarize, we have no other bills or debt. No credit cards, nothing at all. Just one old car, a house full of hand me down furniture, and no assets. No money in the bank either. We do not even rent videos, and the only eating out we do is the occasional 99 cent tacos. We recently celebrated our five year wedding anniversary- we couldn't even buy each other gifts. We went on a picnic, which was free, as that's all we could do. My point is, there is nothing to 'cut out' of our budget. And the stress of living this way, for going on 4 years, is tearing us up.

So, we are considering trying to get the note transfered into just my husbands name, letting the house get repossessed, and then filing bankruptcy. We have no assets, and in 7 years, at least we can start fresh.

I have told you all these details so you will all understand there is nothing to change, no lifestyles to cut out, and no other options. We made a mistake with this house, one very very bad mistake, and now we must get out of it, if we are ever going to recover. Do any of you have any suggestions as to how to get out of this mobile home loan, without filing bankruptcy? or is that the best option? Can anyone tell me what to expect with that? Or what I should do to prepare?
And would chapter 7 or chapter 13 be better, seeing as there is only one lender we owe to?

Any advice would be really helpful. Thank you in advance.