Short answer. The lease does not automatically collapse, but the usufructuary's claim to the rent stops. Article 568 of the Civil Code gives the usufructuary, or their heirs, only the proportionate share of the rent covering the period before the usufruct ended. Rent for the remaining term goes to the owner of the property.
What the law says
If the usufructuary has leased the lands or tenements given in usufruct, and the usufruct should expire before the termination of the lease, he or his heirs and successors shall receive only the proportionate share of the rent that must be paid by the lessee.
Civil Code, Article 568 — Leases Outlasting the Usufruct. Read the full provision →
The rent is apportioned, not forfeited
A usufructuary is entitled to the fruits of the property, and rent is a civil fruit. Article 568 answers what happens when the usufruct ends in the middle of a lease the usufructuary granted: the rent is divided by time. Whatever corresponds to the part of the term that fell within the usufruct belongs to the usufructuary or to their heirs, and whatever corresponds to the rest belongs to the naked owner. Nobody forfeits money already earned, and the heirs of a usufructuary who died mid-term are expressly protected — they collect the share that had accrued.
You cannot grant more than you hold
The deeper principle is that a usufructuary’s rights end when the usufruct ends, usually on death or on the arrival of the agreed term. A lease that runs past that date was granted by someone whose own right had a horizon, so it cannot bind the owner indefinitely on the strength of the usufructuary’s signature alone.
What the Code does here is soften the blow rather than annihilate the lease: it treats the arrangement as continuing for rent purposes and redirects the money. Whether the tenant may stay for the whole term depends on the lease, on the owner’s conduct after taking over, and on any agreement they reach.
Practical steps for tenants and owners
If you are the tenant, ask before signing whether your landlord owns the property or merely holds a usufruct over it, and if it is a usufruct, when it ends and on whose life it depends. Getting the naked owner to sign or formally consent to the lease is the cheapest protection available.
If you are the owner and a usufruct over your land has just ended, do not simply stop the tenant at the gate. Write to them, state that rent from the date the usufruct ended is payable to you, and get the position clarified in writing. Cutting off possession without a legal basis can turn a straightforward apportionment into litigation.