CORINTH — Steve and Brandy Reid were awakened by their 6-year-old daughter climbing into bed with them. It’s happened several times before, the couple said, and it was beginning to get aggravating.

Anna simply couldn’t sleep through the ruckus at the rowdy house next door, the Reids said.

Over the past several months, the Reid family has been awakened or otherwise disturbed by the goings-on next door, where six Sigma Nu fraternity brothers moved into a 4,274-square-foot house at the end of a cul-de-sac in Corinth’s Forest Hill subdivision.

The University of North Texas students moved into the custom home on Waverly Road in August, when the foreclosed house became a rental property.

Since then, the Reids say, they’ve been battling with their college-age neighbors, even installing a 24-hour surveillance camera outside their home, where they’ve lived for eight years.

Recently, they decided they’d had enough and placed a “for sale” sign in their front yard.

Other neighbors have reported varying degrees of annoyance with what some have informally deemed “the frat house.”

During the last few months, about 20 police reports have documented the friction between residents of the rental house and their neighbors, from gripes about the lack of parking in the cul-de-sac to complaints about rowdy parties allegedly involving underage drinking and public urination.

Lanny Gardner, one of the neighbors, said he’s seen people urinating in the front yard and congregating under the streetlights during the early morning hours, which is abnormal for Corinth’s suburban lifestyle.

“That’s a frat house,” Gardner said, pointing across the street. “It’s normal up on a college campus; it’s acceptable there. But it’s here and it’s not acceptable.”

For the Sigma Nu fraternity brothers, the house in Corinth allows them to get away from the daily partying and drinking at the fraternity house on the UNT campus and devote time to study, said Philip Carter, a UNT senior studying kinesiology and finance.

Carter, an executive officer with the fraternity, said the students’ friction isn’t with many of the neighbors, but specifically with one neighbor — Steve Reid, who he says is discriminating against college students.

“We’re not doing anything wrong. He calls the cops, but we’re still here,” Carter said.

However, several residents of the neighborhood, which doesn’t have an official homeowners association to regulate neighborhood behavior, addressed the Corinth City Council in November to plead for help.

Since that meeting, city officials have been reviewing city ordinances and are looking into the possibility of putting an ordinance in place to prevent this kind of situation in the future, Mayor Paul Ruggiere said.

Police patrols have also been directed to the Forest Hill community, in hopes of staving off some aggravation, he said.

“If neighbors have problems, hopefully they could talk them through and respect one another,” Ruggiere said. “It’s tough to regulate the behavior of individuals. I’m saddened that it’s risen to this level. I was alarmed and appalled to learn that kind of behavior was going on in our neighborhoods. I can see — if their grievances are accurate — that it would be a difficult circumstance to live in.”

Other area cities, such as Richardson and Farmers Branch, have attempted to pass city ordinances limiting the number of unrelated residents in single-family homes to help regulate college students or illegal immigrants. But such city code violations can be difficult to enforce and the rights of individuals must be weighed, according to Corinth officials.

Corinth police are proactively patrolling the Forest Hills subdivision and several citations have been issued thus far, Capt. Greg Wilkerson said.

These disturbance complaints are new issues for Corinth residents, who don’t normally interact with or reside next to college students, he said.

“We’re trying to do everything within our power to make sure all residents are in compliance,” Wilkerson said. “This is a unique problem that involves a number of residents.”

While the city hasn’t officially filed a misconduct referral for student disciplinary action with UNT, it’s something the police department may do in the future, Wilkerson said.

Generally, UNT’s code of conduct can hold students responsible for their actions both on and off the campus, said Deborah Leliaert, a spokeswoman for the university.

“Obviously, the university does not control the individual actions of its students,” Leliaert said. “However, we take every appropriate opportunity to inform students of their responsibilities as neighbors, and especially when we are informed of concerns.”

While Carter admits to having parties, he said the fraternity brothers are respectful to their neighbors and have tried to figure out ways to coexist.

“We’re Sigma Nu and this is our house,” Carter said. “We’re not doing anything against the fraternity or doing anything that would make it look bad.”

CANDACE CARLISLE can be reached at 940-566-6889. Her e-mail address is ccarlisle@dentonrc.com .