in academic articles and government reports, these people are called "homeless people". you may hear different words to describe homelessness and homeless people. some of these words apply to people who might not be homeless. sometimes they are based upon stereotypes. for instance, in slang, a vagabond is someone who travels without the money necessary to stay in good hotels. such a person may or may not have a home somewhere. sometimes police reports use the word "transient" to describe people from out of town or who are passing through. many times these words confuse the issues because someone just passing through might own a mansion somewhere or might not.