diff --git a/edivorce/apps/core/static/js/functions.js b/edivorce/apps/core/static/js/functions.js
index 462ff509..31f70cdc 100644
--- a/edivorce/apps/core/static/js/functions.js
+++ b/edivorce/apps/core/static/js/functions.js
@@ -289,7 +289,7 @@ var getValue = function(el, question){
         $('#other_names_fields').find("input[type=text]").each(function () {
             // as per request, alias type will always be also known as for now
             // aliasType = $(this).val() === '' ? '' : $(this).siblings(".alias-type").val();
-            value.push([aliasType, $(this).val()]);
+            value.push([aliasType, $(this).val().trim()]);
         });
         return JSON.stringify(value);
     }
diff --git a/edivorce/apps/core/utils/conditional_logic.py b/edivorce/apps/core/utils/conditional_logic.py
index fb62f142..5ce0265e 100644
--- a/edivorce/apps/core/utils/conditional_logic.py
+++ b/edivorce/apps/core/utils/conditional_logic.py
@@ -130,7 +130,10 @@ def determine_missing_extraordinary_expenses(questions_dict):
 
 
 def get_cleaned_response_value(response):
-    ignore_values = [None, '', '[]', '[["",""]]', '[["also known as",""]]']
+    if response is None:
+        return None
+    response = response.strip()
+    ignore_values = ['', '[]', '[["",""]]', '[["also known as",""]]']
     if response not in ignore_values:
         return response
     return None
diff --git a/edivorce/apps/core/utils/step_completeness.py b/edivorce/apps/core/utils/step_completeness.py
index 921adbfb..7a8c27c0 100644
--- a/edivorce/apps/core/utils/step_completeness.py
+++ b/edivorce/apps/core/utils/step_completeness.py
@@ -100,7 +100,7 @@ def get_error_dict(questions_by_step, step, substep=None):
         substep_questions = children_substep_question_mapping[substep]
         step_questions = list(filter(lambda question_dict: question_dict['question_id'] in substep_questions, step_questions))
 
-    show_section_errors = not step_started(step_questions) and not is_complete(step_questions)
+    show_section_errors = step_started(step_questions) and not is_complete(step_questions)
     if show_section_errors or children_substep_and_step_started:
         for question_dict in step_questions:
             if question_dict['error']: