A bit of a re-post, but I've cleaned up the question.
--MODELS-- class Unit < ActiveRecord::Base has_many :rooms
class Room < ActiveRecord::Base belongs_to :unit has_many :rentals has_many :people, :through => :rentals
class Person < ActiveRecord::Base has_many :rentals has_many :rooms, :through => :rentals
class Rental < ActiveRecord::Base belongs_to :room, :person
--QUESTION-- Using only the unit.id, how can I get the associated person.id?
Person.find_by_sql(...)
AR finders don't supplant SQL, think of them as convenience methods for the simple cases..
Isak