Self-employed borrowers will have an easier time applying for a mortgage as part of a new initiative from Freddie Mac and LoanBeam. Research shows that about 44 million in the U.S. are either self-employed or working for the self-employed. Last week, the GSE announced that calculating income for a self-employed borrower will be automated and simpler for those using Freddie’s automated underwriting system. The GSE said this will expedite the process by reducing the amount of time it takes to gather information. LoanBeam is a software solution that uses technology to extract data from tax documents to automatically calculate income. It does so by using optical character recognition technology.