I also was briefly in a position of having to move around crashing in other people's houses. But I hated it and wanted to get a place, even a shitty one, ASAP.
I once threatened to call cops on an unwanted visitor. He was an old college friend. Years after college, after I moved to California, he called and said he was in town. It was just before Thanksgiving so I invited him to my dinner, he said he had no car so I gave BART instructions. I'm only a mile from BART, a reasonably healthy person can easily walk it. (I did so, both directions, every day rain or shine for 7 years.) Instead, he called me up last minute because he did not have BART fare and could I arrange a ride, so I had to call another guest who did not even know him to pick him up. To my surprise, he arrived with backpack and sleeping bag and asked if he could crash. I figured OK, overnight, although frankly after cooking a Thanksgiving dinner I really want to just veg out with my cats rest of the evening. That night I got the call my mother had died and I needed to make plans to drive to Southern California for funeral. Next day I told "friend" he had to leave that day. Turns out he had decided some time ago to not work, just travel around living off other people. I do understand hard times and needing help, but that was not his situation, he just wanted to be a parasite. The people with whom he'd been staying had kicked him out just before Thanksgiving and he said he had nowhere to go. I said I'm leaving for funeral in 2 days and want him gone. He asked if he could stay in my house while I was away but I no longer trusted him. Meanwhile ate up my Thanksgiving leftovers, didn't clean up after himself, day before I had to go said he had nowhere to go. This was back in landline days and he kept making toll calls trying to find someone to put him up. I told him if he was not out of my house by that evening I'd call cops. He finally found someone, but since he had no BART fare I ended up driving him to the next person he lived off of. Never saw him again and don't care to, he totally took advantage of our past friendship at a really tough time.
