Oh man.
I'm a single mother and I had a landlord do something similar to me.
I was going through a very bitter divorce and had to move out of our family home so that it could be sold.
They interviewed me several times. Did a full background check. Wanted to meet my kids to make sure they were well behaved. I had to give all kinds of character references.
I'd been married so I didn't have recent rental history as we'd always owned our homes.
They made a huge deal out of wanting someone who would be stable and stay there because they didn't want to have to go through this process all the time. (Good Lord! Neither did I!).
I wasn't even there two months, didn't have my stuff unpacked and they came and put a "For Sale" sign in the front yard.
...Informed me that I had to have the house presentable and available for real estate tours and people to come through who were interested in buying the house.
They KNEW what they were doing. They wanted to sell the house, but they didn't want it to sit empty not getting any rent while it was on the market.
I seriously could have killed them.
I was so upset.
Then....when I found another place to go, we did a final exit walk through, which I videotaped. A week later, I got a call from the wife telling me not to cash my deposit refund check because she had put a stop-payment on it.
They tried to say that I ruined the carpets to the extent that ALL the carpeting in that entire house had to be replaced. They replaced all the carpet and turned it in on their homeowner's insurance.
Well, the insurance company investigated the claim and I sent them a copy of our walk through proving there was zero damage to the carpets. ZERO.
Sorry for venting about that.
But they took advantage of a woman with two little kids going through a divorce and then got in trouble for insurance fraud.
Your landlord might not be nearly as devious, but I certainly would consider your telephone conversation to be your "notice" of their intentions.
With a month to month agreement, that means they only have to give you 30 days. It sounds like they are letting you know that 30 days could come at any time.
Things might be different in California. I would talk to legal aide or someone who assists with tenant's rights in your county.
I'm fairly positive you have to be served with a 30 Day Notice to Vacate in writing for the 30 days to start ticking.
It's a pain in the butt, I know, but if you can't qualify to buy the house, you'll have no choice but to find another one.
I wasn't able to find a place even in the same city and it really stunk because I didn't want my daughter to have to switch schools. So...I drove her back and forth and carpooled for a year.
I'm so sorry this is happening to you. Just try to be proactive. Try to accept that for all the hassle this is, maybe it's because something even better and more stable will come along for you.
That's how it worked out for me even though I couldn't really see it at the time.
Hang in there and best wishes.