diff --git a/app/routes/issues.py b/app/routes/issues.py
index 641017b..db1ea20 100644
--- a/app/routes/issues.py
+++ b/app/routes/issues.py
@@ -70,12 +70,18 @@ class _SLAFilteredPage:
 @login_required
 def index():
     page = request.args.get('page', 1, type=int)
-    q    = Issue.query.order_by(Issue.reported_at.desc())
+    # outerjoin Area once here so both the customer-scope filter and the
+    # facility_filter block can reference Area.facility_id without a cartesian
+    # product.  Issues with no area_id get NULL for all Area columns (outer join).
+    q = (
+        Issue.query
+        .outerjoin(Area, Issue.area_id == Area.id)
+        .order_by(Issue.reported_at.desc())
+    )
 
     if current_user.role == 'inspector':
         q = q.filter(Issue.assigned_to == current_user.id)
     elif current_user.role == 'customer':
-        from app.models.facility import Area
         customer_facility_ids = get_customer_scope(current_user)
         if not customer_facility_ids:
             q = q.filter(False)
@@ -86,11 +92,10 @@ def index():
                     Issue.facility_id.in_(customer_facility_ids),
                     db.and_(
                         Issue.area_id.isnot(None),
-                        Issue.area_id == Area.id,
-                        Area.facility_id.in_(customer_facility_ids)
+                        Area.facility_id.in_(customer_facility_ids),
                     )
                 )
-            ).outerjoin(Area, Issue.area_id == Area.id)
+            )
 
     severity_filter = request.args.get('severity', '')
     status_filter   = request.args.get('status', '')
@@ -106,8 +111,7 @@ def index():
         q = q.filter(
             db.or_(
                 Issue.facility_id == fid,
-                db.and_(Issue.area_id.isnot(None),
-                        Area.facility_id == fid)
+                Area.facility_id  == fid,
             )
         )
     # SLA filter — SLA status is computed in Python (not a DB column).
diff --git a/app/utils/audit.py b/app/utils/audit.py
index 1bf0c49..4ed2453 100644
--- a/app/utils/audit.py
+++ b/app/utils/audit.py
@@ -44,6 +44,11 @@ def log_action(action: str,
     """
     Write a single AuditLog row.  Safe to call from any request context.
 
+    ⚠️  This function calls db.session.commit() internally.
+    Always call it AFTER the primary db.session.commit() for the business
+    transaction — never before.  Calling it mid-transaction will commit any
+    dirty ORM state accumulated in the session up to that point.
+
     Parameters
     ----------
     action       : One of the ACTION_* constants (or a custom string ≤ 50 chars).
@@ -90,4 +95,4 @@ def log_action(action: str,
         try:
             db.session.rollback()
         except Exception:
-            pass
+            pass
\ No newline at end of file