I have seen a few posts lately with people complaining about people joining Raid LFM's that are not flagged. How about coding it to the LFM similar to the "BUY IT NOW" box that appears next to a LFM for an Adventure Pack you don't own, have a "HOW TO FLAG" box appear in the same area if you are not flagged for a Raid. Hover over it and it wil list what needs to be done to flag you for a particular Raid.
It won't solve the equipment issues but it's a start.